A Model Life
by Shel12
Summary: Lilly entered Veronica into a modelling show because she is fabulous. How well will Veronica do without Lilly? And how will Logan react when he watches Veronica on screen?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I do not own Veronica Mars or any reality shows that I may borrow aspects of for the purpose of this story. But since they all borrow from each other I don't feel too guilty for doing this.**

** For the purpose of this story, Veronica has grown a bit (or a lot) in height as in reality she would be too short. But hopefully this is the only really OOC moment.**

**Please review and let me know if I should continue this.**

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Veronica stared at the letter in her hand.

"What have you got me into, Lilly?" she asked herself.

Her best friend Lilly had been murdered only a couple of months ago. Her father had decided that Lilly's father had something to do with her murder. His job of sheriff was taken away from him in a re-election. Veronica had lost her boyfriend, best friend, other friends, status, her home and her mother in the following months. Even worse her virginity had been lost. And now, this was happening.

Veronica looked down at the letter again, re-reading the words printed on the page.

'Miss Mars,

You have been successful in your application to participate in the reality show 'Supermodel Search'.

Out of the thousands of applications received by producers, you have been chosen to be in the top 50. You will need to be available to travel to LA to participate in the week of challenges to determine the top 12 girls who will compete on the show to become America's Supermodel.

The winner will receive a one year contract with the modelling agency 'Ruby's Model Management', a cover and 5 page spread in the magazine 'Oui', a brand new car and $500 000.

The Top Twelve will also get money depending on where they finish in the contest.

The following page lists what we suggest you include in your packing.

If you are under 18, you also need to ensure that a legal guardian signs the consent page. For those still at school, a tutor will be available for the twelve weeks of the contest.

For any questions or concerns please contact Cheryl Teale on the following number during working hours.'

Veronica's brow creased as she tried to work out how she had gotten in to this situation.

_Flashback_

"_Veronica Mars, you are looking at the next two Supermodels"._

_Veronica looked over her shoulder towards the door._

"_No silly. US!" Lilly laughed, swinging Veronica back to looking in the mirror. "I heard that bitch Madison saying that she was going to apply for a new reality show called 'Supermodel Search'. We are so much more fabulous than her so we are going to apply too!"_

"_But Lil, I don't want to be a model"._

"_Yes you do. How cool would it be? You and me flying all over the world and meeting all those cute models... hmmmm."_

_Veronica had to giggle at the look that came over Lilly's face._

"_Don't drool Lilly."_

"_But Veronica, think of it."_

"_I am, but I think you could be the supermodel and I could be your photographer. I don't think I have the right sort of look to be a model. And can you imagine my Dad's face if I told him I couldn't go to college because I had to travel to be a model? I'd give him a heart attack!"_

"_You are gorgeous! The second best looking girl in this room". Lilly joked. "But seriously, Veronica Mars, you have something girls like Madison would kill for"._

"_Oh I know you are not going to say boobs" Veronica interrupted._

"_She bought hers, she didn't have to kill anyone", Lilly said cattily. "But I was talking about mystery. No one but me really knows who you are. You wear pastel pink and look and act like the fairy tale character but then you will wear one of my outfits and you look like a completely different person. It's like you are that colour changing lizard thing"._

"_You mean a chameleon. And exactly my point! No one ever notices me next to you. Lil, you are gorgeous, vibrant, fun! I fade into the background. I'm not a model"._

"_Yes you are Veronica Mars! You just need to embrace your inner red satin. I am going to enter us and you are going to do it. Promise me that when we get in, for the sake of keeping our friendship you will do it." Lilly pleaded. _

"_Ummm..."_

"_Please? You won't make me do it without my best friend, will you? Who will I talk to?"_

"_You make friends easily Lil"._

"_But not ones I trust. Please"._

"_OK, OK." Veronica laughed, giving in to the puppy dog look Lilly was giving her. "If we get in, and we haven't even applied yet, may I remind you, I will compete in 'Supermodel Search!"_

"_Yeah!" squealed Lilly, grabbing Veronica in a hug. "Best Friends Forever and to-be supermodels."_

Present Day

Veronica wipes away a tear. "OK Lilly. A promise is a promise. But who am I going to talk to?"

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**A/N: If you like, please review. I fantasize about receiving reviews almost as much as I fantasize about Logan!**


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Glad people like the first chapter. I meant to get this chapter up sooner, but life got in the way. But there shouldn't be too long a wait between this chapter and the next.

Just to let you know, Lilly's comments will be in italics.

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Veronica took a couple of deep breaths as they got closer to the Four Seasons Resort in LA.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw her Dad take a concerned look at her.

She pastes on a fake smile. She had to spend a lot of time trying to convince her Dad that she really wanted to participate in this contest. She thinks it was the fact that she really did need to make some money towards her college fund that sealed the deal.

"Sweetie, are you sure you want to spend the next week with 49 starving wannabe models? How about you and me spend daddy-daughter time and go catch a baseball game, go to the zoo..." Keith asked as he made one more last minute effort to keep his little girl, well his little girl.

"Dad, you have that bail jumper to catch so you know you probably would have to leave me alone anyway. Consider this a way to keep an eye on me. I won't be able to get up to anything while being filmed 24/7." Veronica interrupted, not taking the easy way out. In the back of her mind she could hear Lilly's voice.

"_Don't you dare! Live a little Veronica Mars. You can't spend all your time with your dad"._

Veronica sighed. She kept thinking about how excited she would be if Lilly was here with her. She could imagine the two of them making plans of how fabulous they would be, what they would wear how they would wear their hair and do each other's makeup.

"Dad, I will be fine. Who knows, even if I don't make the top 12, I may make a friend..." Her voice trailed off as they reached their destination. All types of girls, from blondes, brunettes, redheads, Asians, Native Americans, Hispanics and Caucasians were exiting from cars, cabs and buses.

"Well, since you made me promise not to embarrass you with a soppy goodbye, hop out the car now. Behave and I may pick you up in a week. Or will that embarrass you? Really, where did I go wrong? My own daughter thinks that I will embarrass her by saying goodbye." Keith said, wiping away an imaginary tear.

"Well Pops, it started after you cried when you dropped me off for the first day of school."

"Every Dad cries then".

"But not at their daughter's first day of High School! Remember Lilly and Lo... Lilly called you the Sobbing Sheriff for a month after. I had packets of tissues left in my locker and bag since they wanted to make sure you didn't run out!"

Keith chuckled. "Out you get."

Veronica grabbed her bag and jumped out of the car. "Love you Daddy. Stay safe. I'll do you proud."

"I am always proud of you. Love you too." Keith answered. As he pulled away, Veronica saw him wipe his eye.

"_I know we teased you, but you do realise that I would have given anything for my Dad to care as much as yours does_." Veronica heard Lilly say in her head.

"I know Lil." Veronica answered. Before she could get teary herself she took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders and turned towards the front door. "OK, there has to be someone here who I could be friends with for the next week."

With Veronica's luck, who was the first person she saw?

Madison Sinclair.

She was there, yelling at a bellboy as he tried to balance her 3 suitcases (really, they were only there for a week, how many clothes did she need?) on his trolley. It was Madison being her usual delightful self. Just then she caught sight of Veronica. He mouth formed into an evil smirk.

"Well, well well. I didn't know they were holding 'Slut Search' here as well", she sneered.

"Really? Well it is a good thing you didn't know. The other competitors would have had no chance against you", Veronica retaliated as she strode past and headed into the lobby.

"_Meow, Veronica Mars. Keep up with that spunk_". Lilly commented. Veronica just grinned.

She strode up to a table with a sign 'Supermodel Search sign in table'. A very tall, emaciated woman with very prominent cheek bones and long black hair was behind it.

"Name?" she asked, not bothering to keep her boredom off her face.

"Veronica Mars"

"Hmmm. Yes here you are" she said, running her finger, with a very long, pointed nail, down a page of names. "Room 1224. You will be sharing with 3 other girls. On each bed will be a folder with more information about the competition. READ IT!"

She gave Veronica a swipe card and then looked at the next girl in line. "Name?"

Veronica assumed that she had been dismissed and started towards the elevator. As she got closer she saw a girl struggling to move two large suitcases. One fell over as Veronica passed, falling against her leg.

"Oh I'm so sorry. I hope I haven't hurt you?" She asked.

"No, I'm OK. Do you need any help?"

"Oh, that would be great! I am so excited! I mean, my family has always said I was pretty, but to have the producers agree and let me be in the competition is just so amazing! I wasn't sure what to pack so I tried to pack as much as I could. My Dad had to pay an excess baggage fee when we checked in at the airport, but I really think it is going to be worth it. I will be able to look at what others are wearing and be able to change my outfit to suit. Do you think I look pretty? I'm not sure about this shirt now. It looked OK when I left home, but is it too country?" She finally took a breath and looked at Veronica expectedly.

"Ummm... I like your top. It is cute." Veronica answered, wondering if it was too late to make her excuses and escape.

"Eeee." The girl squealed and grabbed Veronica in a hug. "You are so nice. I know we are going to be best friends. What room are you in? If we are in the same room we can have pyjama parties."

"1224," answered Veronica, hoping this would be the wrong room.

"ME TOO! Oh this is destiny!"

"_Hahahahaha. Oh you are going to have so much fun Veronica Mars."_

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A/N: Please review! And I promise, I have a way to bring Logan into the story, but it will be a few chapters before he makes an appearance.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I do not own (still). But if anyone wants to give it to me as a present... I will not re-gift it!

Lilly's thoughts are in italics.

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers and the story alerts. I am having fun writing this story. I have the top 12 all mapped out but I think it may take a while to get to that stage as I want to show the contest from the perspective of Veronica and the TV viewer.

This story is very AU and some characters may be OOC but I wanted to put them in my story.

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"_Hahahahaha. Oh you are going to have so much fun Veronica Mars."_

Veronica was wondering if it was too late to turn around and run. The girl had talked for the whole elevator ride up to floor 12. Veronica knew she had 4 sisters, was her town's current 'Miss Apple Pie Showgirl' and had been with her boyfriend Charlie for 2 years. What Veronica still didn't know was her name.

The elevator door opened to absolute bedlam, with girls and masses of baggage piled next to doors. Veronica manoeuvred her way through the masses to room 1224. She went to open the door but a girl with long brown hair, with blue streaks stopped her.

"We can't go in yet. They want to film our 'spontaneous' reactions to the room. Of course they have made the girl's in room 221 do theirs over 3 times now", she said with a wry grin.

Veronica smirked back. Here was a girl she definitely could be friends with.

"Oh, are you in this room too? Aren't you excited to see the room? It isn't as exciting as seeing the 'Model Mansion' but it is just a lead up to what will come if we make it into the top 12. Oh, I love your hair! I thought about putting red in my hair for our last game of the season, but the rest of my squad pointed out that I may not be able to get the colour out for the dance so I didn't do it, but I do like the blue in your hair".

Veronica shared a look at the other girl.

"Yes I am. Not really, it is just a hotel room and thanks, I change the colour all the time." The blue haired girl answered. Veronica looked at her impressed.

"I'm Mac by the way. Well, Cindy Mackenzie really, but luckily for me, there are two other Cindys in the competition, so the producers asked if there was any other name I used, so you can call me Mac" Mac introduced herself, putting out her hand.

"Veronica Mars", Veronica answered, shaking her hand.

"Oh, I'm Krystal Klein." Krystal said, also shaking Mac's hand.

"I'm Danielle Weaving. And I don't shake hands." Interrupted a girl with dark red hair as she ignored Mac's outstretched hand.

"This is my room, put my luggage in their CAREFULLY. That is Louis Vuitton and not a knock off like some people's (she gave a dismissive glance to Krystal's numerous bags) and I don't want anything to happen to them". She directed a bellboy to room 1224.

"_Well, who cloned Madison? And that is Louis Vuitton from two seasons ago. Remember, Lynn had it for her trip to Paris to film 'Mona Lisa Money'."_

Veronica noticed that Krystal's face fell. She started twisting her hands and looked worried. But before Veronica could say something, a harassed looking production assistant came over.

"So room 1224 is all here? Excellent. We will film you now. Just remember to keep your excitement up as you choose your beds. "She beckoned over a couple of camera operators. One went inside the room and the other stayed out with the girls. A sound assistant lowered a boom microphone over their heads.

"Ok, ready set go".

Krystal squealed and ran inside, Danielle pushed past Veronica and Mac and sauntered in and a Veronica and Mac walked in. Danielle stole the bed Krystal had claimed first, Krystal looked hurt and then Veronica and Mac had to convince her that the next bed she chose was Ok with them. Veronica and Mac took the beds left that were closer to them.

"Cut. OK girls, that was OK. LOVED the bed stealing, but you two need to be more excited. Let's do that again." Veronica and Mac's hatred of this production assistant starts at this point. After the 5th take, where Mac squeals for the first time in her life, and Veronica puts all her past pep squad experiences to good use, their hatred is truly established.

"Cut. Ok Guys, let's move to room 1225. Girls, make sure you read the information in your folders. You are expected to be in the lobby ready for your first 'challenge' by 8am. It will be a long day so make sure you have something to eat. Bye".

"So, where are you from? I'm from Beverly Hills. My Dad works in films so unlike you girls this isn't my only chance for fame." Danielle drawled.

"I'm from Cottonwood Falls, Kansas. My Father is the local Judge."

"Awww... and I had you picked as a poor Minister's daughter." drawled Danielle.

"Well I'm from San Diego. My dad is a car salesman and my mum works for Microsoft." Mac explained. Danielle pulled a face.

"Wow, I am from Neptune. It is only a few hours from San Diego," Veronica kindly explained to Krystal. "My Dad is a private investigator."

"Cool" Krystal said.

"Man, I had to get roomed with losers. My dad works in films, I have appeared in numerous shows and I get roomed with people who probably wouldn't know a designer dress from a knock off. I'm out of here." Danielle stormed out of the room, completely ignoring the folder on her bed.

"_Loser? My best friend? I think not. I wouldn't be talking about designers when I am carting last season Vuitton. And I have never heard of a 'Weaving' in films. OK, I only dated the son of two actors, but they did name drop a lot. What is the bet that her dad just works on films?"_

"Krystal, don't worry about her. Your luggage is fine. Hers is from two seasons ago, so obviously she has to make you feel bad about having the cheaper version of this year's. I am proud of what my Dad does and I think it is cool that your dad is a judge! Her dad is probably just a best boy or gopher. It is not like he is Aaron Echolls." Veronica stated. "Now let's read this folder and find out what we have got ourselves in to".

Veronica, Mac and Krystal had a good time finding out what was involved for the next couple of days. The first challenge started at 8am, followed by a photo shoot after lunch. The day after was the interview panel which the girls would go in alphabetical order. Day 3 was an elimination day, where the Top Fifty would be cut down to the Top 30.

The folder included a lot more rules. Breaking curfew, underage drinking and any sexual encounters would result in instant elimination from the competition.

"_Well, that just took all the fun out of week away from the parentals."_

Veronica had fun ordering room service (Krystal and Mac were amazed at how much ice cream Veronica consumed) and then deciding on what to wear for the next day with Krystal. Even Mac got into it. At 9pm they went to bed, setting their alarms for 5:30am so all of them would have enough time to get ready and have breakfast. Danielle wasn't back yet, but none of them missed her.

Before she fell asleep Lilly gave Veronica a pep talk.

"_See. These girls are not too bad. Not as fabulous as me, of course, but they seem OK. Not sure how long I could put up with Krystal, she is soooo needy."_

"She isn't that bad. I'm glad she is here. She is as supportive as you... maybe even more so. She loved all my selections for tomorrow, didn't tell me once that I needed to show more skin."

"_Hmmm. I am just glad you packed that top I bought you. It will make the judges sit up and notice. Log...I mean the guys who saw you in practically drooled. I was so jealous."_

"Just cause I bought it doesn't mean I will wear it. Miss you Lilly. But I need all the beauty sleep I can get. Will you be with me tomorrow?"

"_I will always be with you Veronica Mars"._

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A/N: Please review. I would love to know what you think. Reviews are my equivalent to kisses from Logan (Damn these crushes on fictional characters!)


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks for all the alerts. BIGGGGGGG thanks to the people who have reviewed. A special thanks to Wanderer for giving me a tip on how I can make my story better. I hope I have I have improved with writing conversatons, facial expressions and tones.

This chapter was difficult for me. It hasn't progressed the way I had originally planned, but these characters are becoming more and more real to me. Veronica is being difficult. I hope she isn't too OOC for you all.

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The room was black when the alarms went off. Krystal practically jumped out of bed, turning her alarm off straight away.

"Veronica, Mac. It is time to get up!" She called out.

The only response she got was a grunt from Veronica and a muffled curse from Mac. Veronica's hand had poked out from beneath her blankets and turned off her alarm, but it had quickly retracted back under. Mac's alarm was still blaring.

"OK. How about I have my shower first and one of you orders room service." She said as she set Mac's alarm for snooze.

There was no response from Mac but Veronica's blankets moved. A sly look appeared on Krystal's face, which if Veronica had seen it would have reminded her of Lilly.

"I'm pretty sure I saw waffles and bacon on the menu last night, I hope they don't run out."

Veronica sat up, her short blond hair sticking up in all directions.

"Waffles?" she practically drooled. She grabbed the room service menu, all traces of sleep wiped from her eyes with the thought of food. Mac is not swayed and if possible moves further under her blankets.

Krystal just smirks and heads into the bathroom. She pokes her head out and requests orange juice and toast.

Veronica spends a few minutes trying to get an answer out of Mac regarding what she wants for breakfast but gives up after not getting any repeatable response.

She calls their order down to the kitchen. As she waits she surreptitiously glances around the room, and when she realises that there is no one watching (Krystal is in the shower, singing 'Raindrops keep falling on my head' in a surprisingly good voice, Mac is still snuggled into her bed and Danielle's bed has not been slept in) she moves to the floor to ceiling length mirror on the far wall. She starts to pose, hands on hips, one hand on her hip, head tilted to the side and putting her hand through her hair. She varies the poses slightly as she practices. It is when she tries out a pose that looks slightly like a move from the nursery rhyme 'I'm a little teapot' that she starts giggling. In her head she can hear Lilly.

"_I'm a little teapot, short and thin, here is my hair toss, here is my grin" she sings._

Veronica blushes, glad no one else but her dead best friend witnessed that. She is relieved when she hears a knock at the door.

"Breakfast is here." She calls out to Krystal and Mac as she answers the door. She startles a little bit when she sees the camera operator and boom operator behind the waiter.

"Hi... Veronica?" asks the boom operator, checking a bright pink clipboard. She looks tired and stressed. She is tall and thin, with long mousy blond hair pulled up in a tight bun and a mole near the corner of her mouth.

"Yes, that's me. Is something wrong? Veronica asks nervously, biting her lips with worry.

"Oh no, we just want a few 'bites' of what you think of the competition, who you are, that sort of thing." The woman says reassuringly. She smiles at Veronica. "So, let's start off easily so you get used to talking on camera. What are you having for breakfast?"She motions for the waiter to take the cart inside and she and the camera operator follows him into the room.

Veronica tries to straighten her pyjamas and smooth her hair. "Umm, I am going to have bacon and eggs and waffles with fruit".

The camera operator and boom operator look at Veronica in astonishment.

"You are going to eat all that? Get this on film."

Veronica looks unsure of herself. She starts to question herself. Her thoughts show on her face.

"Oh hon, we didn't mean to make you feel bad. It is just that the last room we were in we got to have a 'stimulating' conversation with a girl about her grapefruit diet." The camera operator's voice just drips with sarcasm. She is a short, plump woman with short curly brown hair and lots of laughter lines around her mouth and eyes. "It is just nice to see a normal girl actually eating." She grins at Veronica.

Veronica can't help but grin back. "I believe in enjoying food. I'm lucky though, I have two methods of staying thin."

The camera operator raises an eyebrow.

"One, lots of meals to stimulate my naturally fast metabolism. Two, get a naughty pit bull puppy you need to chase after whenever you try and walk him."

She starts to eat her breakfast, now completely at ease with being on camera.

"What's his name?"

"Backup. What are yours?"

The boom operator shares another look with the camera operator. Veronica doesn't know it, but she will be on camera a lot in the future as she has just become these two's favourite. They have been filming girls since early yesterday morning, with only a four hour break for sleep, and this is the first time anyone has asked their names.

"I'm Gwen and this is Lucy", the camera operator answered, gesturing to the boom operator.

"Hey Veronica, I am finished in the bathroom," Krystal called out as she exited the bathroom. "Oh, I didn't realise we had visitors. I'm Krystal." She introduced. She was wearing a cute pink skirt, a white floaty blouse and pink heels. Her hair was pulled up into a high pony tail.

"This is Gwen and Lucy," Veronica introduced. She spooned the last of her bacon and eggs into her mouth. "I'll finish off my waffles later. Do you guys mind if I have my shower? You can interview Krystal?"

"No worries. Krystal, how are you enjoying your time so far? What do you think of your room mates?" Veronica heard Lucy ask as she grabbed her things and moved into the bathroom.

She quickly got in the shower and washed her hair. She was out very quickly... she really wanted to finish her waffles. As she blowed dried her hair she examined her reflection. She still couldn't see why she had been chosen to be in this contest. True, her skin was smooth and clear but she was very pale. Her eyes were a pretty blue. Even Logan used to comment on her eyes. Veronica shook her head in disgust. He now talked about how skinny she was, how she was flat chested, that her nose was like a ski slope and how no one would ever find her attractive.

"_Oh please, it is like he is back in kindergarten. He is just pulling the hair of the girl he likes to get her attention. The reason he is so mean to you is because he is so attracted to you. If I wasn't dead, I would be so jealous."_

Veronica pretended to gag as she switched off the hair dryer. Lilly had to be crazy to think Logan liked her. She gave a wry smile. Or the person having this conversation with a dead girl was the crazy one.

Veronica did her make up quickly. She had decided last night with Krystal's help that a natural look would be best. They had also decided on denim jeans and a pink t-shirt (A/N: this is what she is wearing on the front of the DVD).

A scream from the next room had her running out the door. There she saw Mac on the floor with wet hair. Krystal was standing over her with a now empty water bottle. Gwen and Lucy were trying to stifle their giggles.

"I warned you Mac. You don't have much time left to get ready and eat breakfast. We have to be downstairs soon. I'm sorry I wet you and pulled you out of bed, but I did count to 5 before I did it." She said apologetically.

"She even did the mother count." Gwen added. The girls looked at her in confusion. "You know, four, four and a half, four and three quarters..."

Veronica couldn't help it. She started giggling as Mac stomped her way to the bathroom. She sits on her bed and starts to finish her waffles.

A radio on Lucy's belt crackled to life. While Veronica and Krystal couldn't understand a word that was said, Lucy and Gwen obviously could. Both heaved big sighs.

"Well girls, it has been fun but we need to go down stairs to get ready to film the first challenge." Lucy said. They head towards the door.

"Any hints?"Asks Veronica.

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you," jokes Gwen as they head out.

"I reckon it is a walking challenge." Guesses Krystal. Veronica looks at her. "Look, I have watched every episode of these types of shows. They will have the very 'camp' ex model make us show him how crap we are walking in heels down a runway so he can make bitchy comments about it. Oh my god! What if he hates my walk? What if I fall? I haven't had time to practice." Krystal's face contorts into an expression of absolute panic.

"Ummm." Veronica was lost for words.

Mac came out of the bathroom. She had dried her hair straight and is wearing no makeup. She is wearing jeans and a blue shirt to go with the blue in her hair.

"Practice what?" she asks.

"Walking." Exclaims Krystal with a wail.

"Well, you are how old? 18? I thought you would have finished practicing when you were 2."

Veronica starts laughing, and a few seconds later Krystal does too.

"I meant practising my runway walk!" Krystal laughs. Mac joins in.

"Well if we fall, we fall. At least we will give each other a laugh." Veronica laughs with a large grin on her face. "Now let's get going!"

Veronica doesn't know it, but she looks happier than she has in months, with her eyes sparkling and a wide grin on her face. The housemaid they pass on their way downstairs will report back to her dad that Veronica has already made two friends, and looks like she is going to be OK.

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A/N: Please review and let me know what you think. I will take on board what you suggest.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed. It really helps motivate me to keep writing when I read all your nice comments. To those who haven't reviewed, please consider reviewing. It does help me write the next chapters quicker!

Also, this is not going to be a show exactly like 'Top Model'. I am changing aspects so it is more like what I want. Hope you still like it. The host I describe has the looks of Miranda Kerr and the hosting abilities of Elle McPherson. I'm keeping the gay bitchy 'runway coach' though.

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When Veronica and her room mates reach the lobby, they are directed to large room. As they enter, Veronica is surprised at how few girls are there. There are only about ten other girls waiting in the room. There are more members of the crew standing around than the contestants. Running the length of the room is a row of black tables leading to a red curtain. The Tables have lights on the side and the first thought Veronica has is "How will we eat there?"

"Wow! Look at the runway. Told you it would be a walking challenge," Krystal squeals. Veronica feel stupid for thinking it was a row of tables and stays silent.

"_What, you thought they would want to see you eat? Trust you to think of food!" Laughs Lilly._

A group of girls catches their attention by waving them over. Krystal immediately heads over, the naturally friendly girl taking every opportunity to make more friends. Both Mac and Veronica hesitate before heading over. They are not necessarily the most confident people.

"Hi, I'm Jazmin. Isn't this exciting! I can't wait to see who the host is." A tall, dark haired girl with Mediterranean looks introduces herself with a friendly smile.

"Hi, I'm Krystal and these are my roommates Mac and Veronica." Krystal introduces them.

"Veronica? Oh, um, I have to go and see the producer about something," Jazmin babbles as she moves away, shooting a weird look back at Veronica.

"What was that?" asks Mac in confusion. Jazmin had appeared really friendly but suddenly she acted like she would catch something if she stayed talking to them. Veronica's heart dropped. She knew that look. It is one she had seen every day since Logan had declared war on her. Jazmin had obviously heard one of the rumours.

"Not sure. But my name is Carmen and this is Ali Lee", a girl with gorgeous Latino looks introduces herself, gesturing to an Asian looking girl with the most beautifully smooth skin Veronica has ever seen. Ali Lee manages to smile at them and then drops her head. Veronica is unsure if she has also heard the rumours or if she is just naturally shy.

"Where are you all from?" Carmen asks with a distinguishable Texan drawl.

"I'm from Cottonwood Falls, Kansas. Both Mac and Veronica are from California. Where are you from?" Krystal replied.

"San Antonio, Texas. But Ali Lee is from Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

"I've always wanted to go there. I want to go to the Herman Melville Museum" exclaimed Mac.

"Are you a fan of him too?" asked Ali Lee quietly. She and Mac get into a detailed conversation about his books.

Veronica, Carmen and Krystal start their own conversation, questioning what they may expect in the next week.

More and more girls start trickling in. Quite a few see Veronica and start whispering. She tries to ignore them. She knows Madison is here somewhere, and she had guessed that she would start the rumours here too. Carmen notices.

"Why are so many girls staring over here? What did you do?" she asks a worried look on her face.

"Umm..." Veronica has no idea of what she should say. She decides she should just tell the truth, or half the truth.

"There is a girl from my school here. She hates me and likes to spread rumours. I guess she decided she should spread them here too." She hears herself stay. She doesn't realise it, but she has tensed up.

"Gosh, some girls are such bitches. I had a couple at my school too. I was so glad to leave there. Don't worry about her. Those girls learn. When they are older they won't have many people associated with them because no one wants to hang around someone who make you feel bad about yourself." Carmen says, throwing her arm around Veronica. Krystal nods in agreement and gives Veronica a hug.

They are distracted by movement from the runway.

A woman is strutting down it. She doesn't say a word, but before she has reached the end she has commanded the attention of the whole room. She is stunning. She has long, bouncy brunette hair, sparkling green eyes and clear, slightly tanned skin. She is wearing a light green short sleeved, summer suit which while it doesn't show off her breast, does emphasize how 'perky' they are. The mini skirt shows off her long bronzed legs. She appears detached and standoffish.

She reaches the end and strikes a pose. She then smiles. Immediately, she appears friendly and natural, like she is just the girl next door.

"Hello. Welcome to Supermodel Search. My name is Miranda McPherson. I will be your host and judge for the contest. We have gathered 50 beautiful future models from over America," she pauses for the squeal from some of the girls. "But only one will become America's New Supermodel." A few of the girls who had squealed are now looking worried.

"What is a Supermodel? A Supermodel usually refers to a fashion model that has a worldwide reputation and a background in both haute culture and commercial modelling. They are able to look good in all sorts of clothes both in photographs and on the runway, but also can sell a product and associate themselves with a specific brand or campaign. This contest will find which girl has the ability to become a future Supermodel." Miranda looks at all the girls and smiles. Veronica feels like she focuses on her for a second. But a second later she hears girls behind her whispering "Did you see that? She looked right at me!"

Veronica is surprised that she actually feels a bit disappointed that she wasn't singled out.

"_What would they know? She definitely looked straight at you Veronica Mars."_

"There are 50 of you, but by the end of this week, only 12 of you will enter the "Model Mansion' and only one of you will be titled America's Supermodel. I have gathered some of the best models, photographers and fashion designers to help teach you how to be the best model you can be." Miranda continues. Unlike some hosts of reality programs, she appears natural and unrehearsed.

"Let me introduce you to one of these people. Your runway coach is an ex-model who has always had a natural command over the audience in whatever fashion show they walked. They have modelled in New York, Paris, Milan, London, Sydney and Hong Kong, just to name a few places. Help me in introducing, Mr Pauly Gale." She starts clapping, standing to the side.

Veronica and the rest of the girls start clapping too, some squealing too. Veronica doesn't squeal for two reasons. One, she isn't a squealing type of girl anymore, and two, she has no idea who Pauly Gale is.

The runway goes dark, and then a large spotlight focuses on the curtain. It is flung back, and a tall man with blond hair, appears. Veronica can't help the gasp that involuntarily leaves her mouth. Around her she can hear other gasps too. She realises that in the last few months she has seen a lot of things that have made her open her eyes, but this has to be the most bizarre.

The Man, Pauly Gale, is wearing a billowing dark blue dress. He starts to strut down the runway. As he gets closer, Veronica can see that he is probably wearing more makeup than Miranda. Studying him, her head tilted to the side, she realises that he is wearing blush to make his high cheek bones even more prominent and eyeliner and eye shadow to make his eyes look 'smoky'.

"_Wow, Logan was right! Guys in Hollywood do wear WAYYYY to much makeup." She hears Lilly say. "I wish I had his cheekbones though."He says with arrogance. "I am the best in the business, so you need to listen to what I say." _

Veronica makes a face. She doesn't like the arrogance of this man. For some reason Aaron Echoll's face comes appears in her mind. She notices a camera panning across the faces of the group girls so she schools her face into a blank expression.

Pauly stops and points to a tall African American girl. "You first. Show me how you walk down a runway."

The girl literally looked like she was going to throw up. She nervously made her way to the end of the runway where some steps are. She climbs them slowly.

"Come on, there are 49 other girls that have to have a go after you." Pauly yells out to her.

She stands up straighter and a look of sheer determination forms on her face. She starts to strut down the runway. Pauly looks surprised. She is actually pretty good. He remains quiet for her walk.

"Not bad. Next?"

Madison pushes her way to the front of the group. "I am."

She confidently climbs the stairs, a huge smile on her face as she walks down the runway. Veronica can't help smirking to herself. She looks stupid.

"No, No! Don't shake those hips too much; you want to be high class, not a stripper!" Pauly says.

Madison turns bright red and slinks off stage.

The next few girls are ok. Then a girl with wild curly red hair starts to walk. She is definitely the worst 'walker' so far. She looks stiff and awkward. She blushes the whole way down the runway.

Pauly doesn't hold back. "Horrible. The worst so far."

"At least I didn't say it out loud," thinks Veronica angrily. Yes she is bad, but she knew it already.

"This is how you walk. Girls, DON'T walk this way". He starts walking, holding his body up stiff, like he has a pole running through it, but then starts moving his hips from side to side. Veronica tries to stifle her giggles, because, yes, he does look funny but he is making fun of someone. The girl is trying to take on the critique but she has tears in her eyes. Veronica starts to get nervous about her go. Maybe Krystal is right. They should have practiced.

"Your next." Pauly says, pointing straight at Veronica.

Veronica feels like a deer trapped in headlights. She slowly makes her way to the stairs.

"_This won't do, Veronica Mars. Get up there and walk like you do after you respond to one of Logan's quips. Strut it like I taught you."_

She takes a deep breath and imagines Logan and his gang pointing and laughing at her. She pretends she is walking away from them. She struts down the runway. At the end she strikes a pose, one hand on her hip.

"Wow. We have attitude here! That walk won't be suitable in all situations, but for an edgy fashion house it would be fine. Not bad." Pauly says with an impressed look on his face. It disappears quickly.

"Next."

Veronica slides back into place next to Krystal. She smiles excitedly at her and gives her a thumbs up. Veronica smiles back at her. Her heart is racing with adrenalin.

After a while the girls start to all look the same. Carmen is Ok at her turn, but Mac and Ali Lee both are too nervous and self conscious to do a good job. One girl who stands out is Krystal. She makes her walk confidently and makes it look like she has been doing it for years. Veronica thinks maybe she has been practicing it for years.

Pauly's comments get meaner as the day goes on.

"Aw, that doesn't look that great from the back" and after the girl turns around. "It looks worse from the front."

"Aren't Dinosaurs extinct? Then why are you walking like one?"

"You look like a weightlifter trying to walk for the first time in high heels."

Finally all the girls have had their turn.

"OK Girls, I have seen your walks. There are a lot of you who need extra help, but there actually a few who walk like it is a natural thing." He states.

Miranda is back in the room. "Ok girls, we now have a short 'runway coaching session'. Aimee and Lissa will be giving you feedback and helping you improve your walks. Then lunch will be served. After lunch we will start our interviews. Be beautiful, let you personalities come out and make sure that 'X-factor 'something, comes out, because that is what will get you to the next level."

She and Pauly leave the room. Veronica can't help commenting to Mac "I thought Pauly was our coach? All he has done is judge and put us down."

"Maybe he is like Simon Cowell? Judges but has no idea on how to teach?" Mac answers with a wry smile. "These women are OK though. At least they are telling me what I did wrong and helping me 'fix' my walk. I wish I had gotten up early enough to have breakfast. I'm starving!" She puts a hand on her stomach.

"Oh, I thought you would be hungry so I saved this from breakfast" said Krystal, overhearing Mac. She rummages in her handbag and pulls out a mandarin and an apple.

Mac gives her a grateful smile and bites into the apple immediately.

Veronica wishes she had put one of the waffles in her handbag. She notices that since Pauly and Miranda have left the room, the camera crew numbers have dropped dramatically. Both Gwen and Lucy are not in the room. She wonders if they are getting some sleep.

She spends the next hour and a half practicing her 'walk'. She makes note to yell at her father for obviously not teaching her well enough as a child. Her mind goes numb with boredom.

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A/N: The longest chapter yet! I thought I would get to the interviews but I thought this chapter was getting too long. So next chapter will be the interviews. I think it is important they have their own chapter as it is the best chance to 'introduce' you to all my new characters.

See the pretty box... isn't it just calling out to you to review? I can hear it now... "REVIEW!" LOL


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars or any model reality show.**

**A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers. You are all brilliant for taking the time to comment on my story. **

** I decided to split this chapter as I felt it was getting too long. I thought I would be somewhere furthur in the story by now, but I feel I want to introduce these new characters well. Let me know what you think.**

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After almost 2 hours of runway practice, Veronica was ready to scream. The models teaching them had no sense of humour.

Macy, from Washington, had long black hair, porcelain skin and brilliant blue eyes had joined 'forces' with Veronica and Mac after she had heard their comments about how they had learnt to walk years ago, and they hoped potty training was not the next class.

"I'm sure a model must stay graceful, even on the toilet", she had commented. She then proceeded to critique Veronica's so called potty training in a style that was reminiscent of Pauly Gale's comments.

When Veronica and Mac had burst into laughter, they had all got into trouble. Macy had shrugged her shoulders unapologetically. "We can smile. It is not you are teaching us brain surgery."

When the girls were directed to a dining room for lunch, she sat at the same table with them, Krystal, Ali Lee and Carmen.

"So... Veronica, is it true you have slept with all the members of your school's swim team?" she asks, calmly buttering a piece of bread.

Veronica tensed up immediately, while the other girls at the table stared at Veronica.

"Or, if I ask the swim team, would they tell me it was the whole of the football team?" she answered, without waiting from a response from Veronica. "Really, what sort of person starts rumours like this?"

Veronica is in shock. "Ummm."

"Look, my dad is involved in politics. I have learnt that the most vocal mud slingers usually have the most to hide." Macy states.

"Like, the ones who state how important family values are are usually the ones visiting prostitutes while on business trips?" asks Carmen.

"Yes. So I have learnt that ugly rumours are usually just ugly stories from ugly people. I don't trust them. I will make my own opinion. If I find out you have slept with that many people I will call you a slut, but I will do it to your face. I am a bitch. I will tell you the truth. So, truthfully, are the rumours true?" Macy asks, staring at Veronica directly.

"_Oh, I like this girl. She is like me."_ Veronica heard Lilly say.

Veronica looked at the other girls at the table who were silent but leaning forward in anticipation. She notices Gwen and her camera filming away. She blushes to think the rumours are going to be shown on TV.

"Yes, you are right. If you ask the swim team, they will refer you to the football team and the football team will tell you I have slept with the chess team. The rumours were started by someone who I thought was a friend. He knows what is going to hurt the most. Madison is just following his orders and continues to spread them." Veronica takes a deep breath and waits for the response.

"Thought so." Macy says, nodding her head once, looking smug that she was right.

"Wow, how mean. I can't believe all these girls believe the stories are true. Anyone who has talked to you would know you are not a slut. We will make sure everyone knows they aren't true." Krystal glares fiercely around the room.

The other girls agree with her. Veronica starts to get teary. People she had known for years had just accepted the rumours without any questions, but these girls who she has known less than 24 hours are prepared to stand up for her.

Macy obviously realises Veronica is in a fragile state and starts to question Carmen about her history, forcing everyone's attention from Veronica. But Krystal finds Veronica's hand under the table and squeezes it. Gwen gives Veronica a reassuring smile.

"_I like all these girls. Not as good as me, but they definitely have more class than Shelly and Madison. I give you permission to be friends with them_." Lilly commands.

They are distracted by the woman who gave them their room assignments calling out for attention. "Her name is Juanita", whispers Gwen to Veronica as she walks away from them.

"Ok girls. Interviews will start in half an hour. You all have this time to get ready. You will return to this room until it is your turn. The order list is being distributed now. NO swapping is allowed. Dress to impress..." Juanita is interrupted by Lucy whispering something to her. Juanita looks disgruntled. "But Miranda has asked that it reflects your personality. Mid way through your interview, they will ask you to change into your swimsuit. If you can't wear your swimsuit under your outfit, be prepared to change into it quickly. Do not keep the judges waiting. When your interview is over, you will have free time to take advantage of the amenities provided by the resort. You will not be needed again until 8 o'clock tomorrow morning. That is all." She finishes on a scowl.

"Who died? She is such a misery guts." Macy comments standing up. "I'll see you guys in 30 minutes." She grabs an order list as she walks out of the room confidently.

Veronica waits for Mac and Krystal before heading up to the room. She has already decided on her outfit. As she had been packing for the competition she had found a plastic bag of clothes at the very back of her closet. She had put it there when she had first moved into the apartment not wanting to look in it. It was a bag of clothes Lilly had given to her before she died. Duncan had just broken up with Veronica and Veronica had wanted to have a 'girl's night in'. Lilly had cancelled on her at last moment for some 'secret plans' (Veronica had known a guy was involved) but had turned up the next day with a bag of clothes she reckoned were designed to show the world Veronica's 'inner hotness'. Veronica had not been in the mood to have a close look at them, and when Lilly had died they were the last thing on her mind. But finding them before the contest was like Lilly looking after her from the grave. They were the perfect mix of the old Veronica and the new.

The dress Veronica wanted to wear was pink but had black straps, a black belt and black on the hem. Veronica loved the dress and thought she looked hot in it. The bikini was also from the bag. It was a plain black bikini, but it was slightly skimpier than what she used to feel comfortable wearing. She realised that she could wear it under the dress if she let the straps down. She also kept her black choker and star necklace on.

Mac dressed in a blue blouse and dark jeans. She was wearing a one piece swimsuit underneath.

Krystal had a bright blue bikini which she was wearing under a bright yellow sundress. As she said "Who knows where they will make you change and who can watch."

Veronica also slipped a book into the bag she was taking down with her. For some unknown reason, the producers had decided to interview the girls alphabetically, by first name. This meant Veronica was the second to last girl to be interviewed. Wendy Coombs would be the only one after her.

When the girls got downstairs, they were amazed by what they saw. Girls in all sorts of outfits were there waiting. Some in jeans, some in sundresses, and some in prom dresses. Some also had more makeup than a clown would wear.

"Abrianna, you are first. Please do your walk in, turn at the mark and then walk until you reach the cross. Stand on the cross while you are interviewed. When they tell you they want to see you in your swimsuit, you will walk back out here, change in this corner and then walk back in. They judges may ask you more questions, or they may not. After they dismiss you the second time, you will come back out here and then you have free time and may leave this room. Until then, you must stay in this room. No exceptions." Juanita explained with her usual scowl.

Abrianna was the first girl to walk the runway. Veronica feels sorry for her. It is always worse to be the first and this girl has been picked first both times now.

Krystal, Mac and Veronica make their way to some chairs grouped in the back of the room. Carmen, Ali Lee and Macy soon join them, as well as an overexcited girl who introduces herself as Cindy. She has bleached blonde hair and big boobs squeezed into a tight pink singlet top. It is actually quite humorous to see her sitting next to Mac as they are complete opposites of each other. The girls start complimenting each other on their outfits and gossiping about the hot camera guy and the hot waiter they have seen since being at the resort. Carmen, Cindy, Macy and Krystal make plans to go and scope then out more after their interviews.

"Ali Lee, you are next." Juanita calls out.

Ali Lee looks like she is going to throw up. She is a very shy girl who takes a while to open up to strangers. The girls murmur sayings of support as she heads off to the interview room. Ali Lee is wearing a plain black skirt but has teamed it up with a beautiful red Chinese style shirt.

The girls fall silent. Ali Lee is the first of them to be interviewed so she is in charge of telling them what to expect. It feels like hours, but it is less than 5 minutes before they see her exit and move to the allocated corner to reveal her swim suit. She does this quickly and has to wait for Juanita to tell her it is time to go back in. She is only gone a couple of minutes this time before she is back. She grabs her outfit and hurries back to the group without even putting them on first. She flops back into her chair with relief.

"OK, the judges are sitting at a table at the end of the room. It is Miranda, Pauly and another guy they called Jake. They just watch you without saying anything as you walk in. Miranda smiles at you, Jake smirks and Pauly looks at you like you are a bit of gum on your shoe. Then they ask you questions." Ali Lee explained.

"What sort of questions? Asked Carmen worriedly, as she was the next to go in.

"About why I am in the contest, what my family thinks, my background." Ali Lee answered shrugging. "That wasn't too bad. It is the swimsuit walk. They stare at you and I swear they are there categorizing every single flaw on my body. Pauly is the worse. He makes comments under his breath to the other judges."

"You know that doesn't make me feel any better?" Asks Carmen.

Ali Lee shrugs as Carmen's name is called. Carmen tries look confident, but it is obvious that she is faking it.

Carmen is away longer than Ali Lee. The girls don't notice when she gets changed because Macy had started a game of eye-spy to take their minds off their nerves and an argument had started over whether or not 'splatter' was an acceptable answer for 's'. Veronica was sticking up for Mac who thought that the paint splatter on the skirting boards was acceptable. Macy and the other girls thought it was too hard.

"Done and dusted. It went OK." Carmen said as she flopped back into her chair. Her eyes were a bit red, as if she had been crying. "I'm am OK." She said when she saw the concerned looks the others were giving her. "They asked about my Grandmother. She wanted me to join this competition because she thinks I am beautiful enough to be a supermodel. But she is currently fighting breast cancer so, it is a really emotional time for me" she starts to get teary again. The girls hug her and offer her words of support.

"Cindy Cooper?" is called out.

"Oh, that's me!" squeals Cindy. She does an excited skip to the door. She is gone for about 5 minutes and then they see her come out. She strips out of her outfit and then puts on a bright red bikini. She has no problem with her nudity at all. She heads back in. When she comes out she runs to the girls.

"That was so cool. Miranda is so gorgeous. I complimented her on her dress, and her hair and her shoes." She gushes.

"Cindy McKenzie" Juanita calls out. Mac gives a nervous smile and heads over to the interview room. Veronica is nervous for her. She has no idea why Mac has joined the contest. Yes, she is good looking, but she is obviously intelligent. Veronica assumes she is there for the scholarship money as well.

When Mac is finished she looks relieved, nervous and surprised. "I just told the judges about how I feel about being switched at birth." She explains. "I wasn't going to, but they had obviously done their research and already knew."

"What?" the group asked collectively, with confused faces.

"When I was born, I was switched with another girl and I was taken home by the wrong family. It wasn't until we were 4 that it was discovered. Our parents had fallen in love with us, so we came up with a deal that we would be shared between the two families. That is why I am here. My 'biological' mother wanted both her daughters to try out so it doesn't look like she is playing favourites." Mac explained. The girls stare at her in amazement.

"Oh My God!" exclaims Cindy. "So who is your sister?" she looks at the group.

"Not one of these girls. I don't associate with her outside of family. She is not very nice. Where she has grown up is very superficial so she has become very superficial. She is now more worried about how she looks, that she has the latest handbag and trying to get Aaron Echolls' son to date her."

"What! You were swapped with Madison Sinclair!" Yells Veronica.

"_Oh, Mac just got really interesting!" exclaims Lilly_.

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**A/N: Please review and let me know what you think. Is there a character you definately want in the top 12? I start 'cutting' the contestants soon, so let me know who your favs are so far to make sure they make it in (hint: Veronica and Mac are safe)**

**Hopefully I will update soon, but reviews will motivate me to write more (hint hint :) ).**


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

I have to apologise for taking so long to update. I have struggled to write this chapter and have rewritten it a few time. ALL mistakes are mine.

Big thanks to my sister who has nagged me all weekend to get this chapter up. She has been as annoying as Madison. Due to her persistance this chapter has been uploaded.

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Veronica's mind is in turmoil. She has just found out that her new friend is the 'sister' of one of her sworn enemies. The first thought is that Mac may be Madison's spy and the stuff Veronica has told her will get back to Madison and it will be something else Madison and Logan will use against her.

"_Yeah, cause this Mac girl looks oh, so happy to be related to Madison_." Lilly states, making Veronica feel embarrassed and angry at herself for even thinking that way. Mac was her friend.

"I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to hate me. I don't make friends easily normally, but I connected to you instantly. But I knew you wouldn't want to be friends with someone related to Madison. I'm sorry." Mac said to Veronica tearfully.

Krystal moves over to Veronica and puts her arm around her. Macy also stands with Veronica. Carmen and Ali Lee side with Mac. The girls face each other, all waiting for Veronica's response. Cindy has no idea what is really going on.

"Hang on? Madison is your sister? I met her last night. She doesn't look anything like you." She asks confusedly.

Veronica can't help herself. She starts to laugh. Madison must hate the whole situation. Mac is so different to Madison. No wonder Madison scorns people who do well at school. She must get compared to Mac all the time. And the fact Veronica and Mac were friends... well, that would be revenge enough for all the mean rumours Madison had spread.

"I don't hate you. But does Madison know we are friends?" Veronica asks with a smile.

Mac starts laughing. The tension between all the girls disperses.

"Madison is the girl who has been spreading the rumours around." Veronica explains to the other girls. Macy smirks evilly.

"Oh, this is going to be good!" She exclaims.

"Well, I am still confused. Why don't you explain more as we go and relax by the pool" Carmen comments. "The others can join us as they finish their interviews."

The girls agree to this plan. Ali Lee, Carmen, Cindy and Mac head off, but not before Veronica and Mac share an awkward hug. Well, Mac was awkward, as much as Veronica will try and deny it, Lilly's naive best friend still exists deep, deep down, the one who would give hugs to her friends all the time.

Macy, Krystal and Veronica settled down to wait for their turns. But their peace was interrupted by an angry Madison stomping over.

"What are you doing with her?" she barks.

Veronica just looks at her. Her scowl make her look really ugly and Veronica can't help but wonder how anyone would find her attractive.

"Answer me! What are you doing with 'Computer nerd Cindy doll'?" she hisses into Veronica's face.

Veronica takes a moment to wipe away the spit droplets that have been sprayed into her face.

"Mac is my friend. But from the sounds of it, you two are sort of related. I wonder if Logan knows Mac? Hey, maybe Aaron's next movie could be about a guy switched at birth. That way you could spend lots of time at the Echolls' place. You could help Aaron with his research with the role." Veronica snarks back.

Madison turns a funny puce colour. Her mouth drops open. "You wouldn't dare tell! If you do I.. I ..." she stutters.

"Hmmm, Veronica, what would she do if you told? How about we talk about what she will do to make sure you don't tell." Macy enters the conversation with sly smirk on her face. Veronica and Madison both look at her with questioning expressions on their faces. "Well, it seems Veronica now knows something that Madison doesn't want to get out. Maybe some of these rumours that are going around could stop. Not just here, but back at school too. Cause if the rumours stop, no new ones will be started. Do you think that is fair?" Macy asks.

Veronica grins at Macy. "I think that is fair. If I hear you ever spreading any sort of rumour, I will just have to spread yours. Do we have a deal Madison?"

Madison just stands there. All her conflicting emotions pass across her face. She doesn't want her secret to get out, but will Logan think she is standing up for Veronica if she doesn't continue spreading the stories he tells her? But if people find out she is supposed to be poor! "OK, I won't say anything. But you better not say anything either." She stomped back across the room.

"Do you think she realises that if they knew Mac was swapped at birth the judges will know about her too? How is she going to stop it from appearing on the show for millions of people to see?" questioned Krystal.

Macy and Veronica just shrugged.

"Krystal?" was called out. She jumped up, straightened her dress and looked at Veronica and Macy for reassurance.

"You look gorgeous! Now go rock it." Macy demanded and Veronica nodded in agreement.

She headed across the room, head held high and with a confident stride.

"I love her. She needs reassurance but she does this all so well. I wonder who the person is who makes her doubt herself." Macy commented. Veronica wondered as well. Krystal was becoming a good friend and the thought of someone hurting her in any way was not a nice one.

Macy and Veronica made small talk until Krystal came back. She was beaming. "I think it went well. Jake actually originally came from a small town near mine. My school has a rivalry with his old school. Oh, no!" she exclaimed. A frown marred her face all of a sudden.

"What? Asked Veronica in worry.

"What if that works against me? I did the cheer, the one where we are really mean about the Scarecrows. That is their mascot. It contains the line 'If they only had a brain'. But he did retaliate with the 'We scare the crows' cheer. We are the Crows. So that has to be a good sign doesn't it?" Krystal is talking really fast, without taking pauses for breath. Veronica has only known her awhile but already knows that this is Krystal hyped up on nerves and excitement.

"Yes. Now calm down. Take some deep breaths while I have my interview and then we will head off to join the others" answered Macy with a laugh as her name is called. She strides confidently across the room. Veronica decides that Macy has never second guessed herself ever.

Krystal takes some deep breaths. "Will you be OK by yourself? I can stay with you until you have your interview?" She asked.

Veronica smiled at her. "Nah, one of us should have some fun, and maybe try and get some sort of tan. I'll be fine here. I have a book and I am sure I can find someone to talk to."

Macy came striding back over. "OK, interview down, now for the next thing. I don't think Pauly likes me, but Jake winked at me. Krystal, we should go celebrate. Cocktails for me, mocktails for the rest of you. Veronica, will you be OK waiting by yourself? Krystal and I will order you a drink and have it waiting."

Veronica smiled at them "Only if you promise it will have one of those paper umbrellas."

Macy nods and smiles. Both she and Krystal wished Veronica luck, Krystal gave her a hug and they exited the room.

Veronica sat down and got her book out, but she really didn't feel like reading. She noticed another group of girls and thought she might join them instead of sitting by herself until her interview. As she started to move towards them she noticed then starting to whisper and giggle. They turned as a collective group and looked her up and down. The word 'Slut' reached her ears. She reddened and kept moving past the girls, changing her course to head to the bathroom. Once there she headed straight to a stall and locked herself in. She was determined she wouldn't cry. How could the girls believe all these rumours? She wished that she was more like Macy. Macy just exuded self confidence. Veronica had changed, but every vocal barb still cut her like a knife.

When Lilly had first died, and Duncan had met her approaches with silence, she thought the worst thing in the world was to be ignored. After her rape, and the subsequent rumours of her 'sluttiness' she had learnt that sometimes it was better to not 'exist'.

"_YOU Exist! And I am so mad at the other 09ers for spreading these rumours and being so mean, but I am angrier at the other kids at the school who joined in or ignored you. This contest is going to show them all who they missed out on being friends with so get out there and show the whole of America WHY you were Lilly Kane's best friend." _Lilly commanded.

Veronica unlocked the bathroom stall and approached the mirror. She stared at her reflection. She took a couple of deep breaths, washed her hands and fixed up her hair. She then strode confidently out the door. She was relieved that there was a lot less girls in the room. She made her way back to her chair and started reading her book.

She was startled when her name was called out. She had become engrossed in the story she was reading. She closed her book and stood up and walked over to the door. Veronica paused for a couple of seconds.

"_What are you waiting for Veronica Mars? I taught you how to make an entrance, now do it!_" Lilly yelled at her.

She took a deep breath and then strutted into the room, pretending she was just entering one of Logan's parties late so she and Lilly could make an entrance. She strutted to the mark, turned and faced the judges and walked to a cross on the floor. She stopped and looked at each one in the eye as she introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Veronica Mars and I'm from Neptune California.

Miranda smiled, Pauly scowled and Jake smirked.

"Veronica, can you tell us why you joined the competition?" Miranda asked.

"My best friend Lilly convinced me to. Well, she put my application in for me and then she made me promise that if we got in I would do it." Veronica's voice halted. She could feel tears welling up.

"Lilly was a good friend wasn't she. Why don't you tell us why she isn't here in the contest with you?" Miranda asked sympathetically with a supportive and caring look on her face.

Veronica felt a tear escape and slip down her cheek. "Lilly was killed a few months ago."

Miranda got up and passed a tissue to Veronica. Veronica wipes her eyes, and then realises that behind the judges is a camera operator. The lighting is dark, but she is able to determine that it is not Gwen. She blushes.

"Do you miss her?" Asked Pauly.

"_Nah, she doesn't miss her best friend. What sort of question is that?"_ Lilly commented.

"Yes I do. She was the type of person who just embraced life. She always seemed to be moving and she could make the most tedious thing fun. The last time I saw her was at our pep squad's car wash. Lilly was bubbling all over. Her last words to me were 'I have a secret, a good one.' The thought of finding out what her secret was got me through the rest of the car wash. I thought I would have plenty of time to find out what it was." Veronica reminisced, a small smile playing on. "I didn't. It hurts that I am doing this without her, but it hurts more that we will never do anything with her again."

"I have heard a few things about you. They don't paint you in a positive light. Do you want to comment?" Pauly asked, a slight sneer on his face.

Veronica froze for a couple of seconds.

"Look, Lilly Kane was my best friend. Your expressions show me you have heard of the case. Billionaire's daughter murdered and then the local sheriff accused her father. Well, that sheriff was my father, and when I was asked to choose who to support, I chose my dad. Everyone, even if they had never met me, or Lilly, suddenly hates me and have made sure rumours are made and repeated. It still surprises me how people just believe and repeat those rumours without question. But I have learnt, that as long as I don't let it bother me, they can't hurt."

Miranda lifts an eyebrow. "Does it bother you?"she asks.

"I would love to say no, but sometimes, from someone who I used to care about, they hit a nerve and yes, it does bothers me and it hurts. But hey, no one has died from the 'slut sneeze' recently, have they?" Veronica asks with a smile.

Pauly and Jake laugh. Miranda stares back at Veronica. She has no expression on her face during Veronica's answer. A few seconds pass, and then a brilliant smile covers her face. "You haven't had a good year, but I can see a fighter in you. If you keep up that determination, I can see you going far in this competition."

"But do you still want to do this? Are you just doing this to fulfil a promise to your friend? If you get in will you be taking a spot from a girl who may want it more?" Jake asked. He had a high pitched voice which didn't match his appearance. He has dark skin, dark hair and it is obvious he works out.

Veronica ponders that question. "I want this." She says, surprising herself. "I want to eventually become a photographer. Being in this contest will help me with learning what poses, for example, will best show a piece of fashion to advantage. My photography teacher says that to capture the best sport photos you need to have knowledge of sports. So I think, to take better fashion photos, I need to learn about modelling."

Jake nodded slightly. "Can you name a few fashion photographers?"

"Steven Meisel, Annie Leibovitz, Steven Klein and Mario Testino are some of my favourites." Veronica rattles off.

"That is very good. Can we see you in your swimsuit?" drawls Pauly.

Veronica nods and struts out. She quickly removes her dress and makes sure her bikini is straight. The producer nods and she walks back in, this time pretending she is Lynn Echolls strutting beside her pool to capture Dick, Beaver and the others guys' attentions. Veronica may have been naive, but even she could see that Lynn had major confidence problems.

"I have to say, Miss Mars, you are one of the few girls in this contest I will not have to coach very much. And unlike those girls, you have a variety of walks." Pauly says begrudgingly.

Veronica can't help but smile back at him.

"Yes, your walks are good, but I think you need to work on your poses. You need to practice in the mirror so you look more natural." Jake comments, but Veronica decides he is just trying to help her, not to criticize her.

"Thanks Veronica. You can go now." Miranda dismisses her. Veronica struts out and then falls back against the wall in relief. It is over.

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Please review! If you review, I promise that I will have the next chapter up much sooner than this one was.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: OK, sorry to my reviewers for not replying individually to your reviews, but I hope all of you know that they were really appreciated and I love you all.

I had surgery on my ankle and have been in a LOT of pain. Good news is that because of the surgery, I have 2 weeks off work and nothing to do because I can't walk far or stand for long and hence can't do anything. Therefore... lots of time to write! I have got the next two chapters started and one of them introduces a certain guy all of you have been waiting for. (Spoilers)

Anyway, please review this chapter. If you hate it, blame the pain and horrible painkillers that are making me sick. If you love it, it is all ME! Whatever you think, please let me know.

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Veronica is relieved that her interview is over. She is quite happy with how it went. She feels like celebrating. She grabs her dress and bag and heads off towards the pools.

The pools are surrounded by girls relaxing in their swimsuits. She hears her named yelled out.

"Hey, Veronica Mars, we are over here!"

For a minute she gets excited, forgetting that it can't be Lilly calling out to her. Her heart sinks when she realises that it is Macy who called out to her, and Krystal is sitting beside her on another sun lounge waving frantically. She forces a smile as she walks over to them. Ali Lee, Carmen and Mac are with them.

"How'd it go?" Asked Krystal.

"OK. I almost forgot about the cameras. Pauly actually complimented me on my walk!" Veronica replied, feeling proud of herself.

"Great. So it sounds like all of us have done well in the interviews. Hopefully we will all safe and into the next round. But I think now we should relax and have fun. No use in worrying about what tomorrow will bring." Macy commands, taking a sip of her drink.

Veronica moves to a spare lounge and lies down. She fishes her sunglasses out of her bag and perches them on her head. She sees Gwen move over and focus on their group. "Hi Gwen. Do you get to relax as well?" she asks her.

"Nah, I won't finish until 9 tonight when all of you will be in bed because of curfew. And just a heads up for you, I would make sure you are in bed then. I may be finished work then, but there are others who will be hoping to give the judges an easier way to cut some of the girls" She answers.

"Thanks for that. We will make sure we are all poorer Cinderellas and in bed before we even have a chance to turn into a pumpkin," Veronica cheekily replies. The other girls join Gwen in her laughter. "But I have a question for Macy and Krystal. Where is my tropical drink with the paper umbrella I was promised?"

The girls share a sneaky grin. "We didn't want to have you miss out." Carmen explains, waving her hand in the air. Instantly a figure in black moves over to the girls. It is a guy about Carmen and Macy's age, and there can be no debate about it. He is HOT.

"Yes, Miss Sanchez?" He asks politely. He is all muscle and chiselled jaw. Veronica is not too impressed. The way he is standing, with his face to the camera reminds her of Aaron Echolls. She wants to bet that he is a wannabe actor.

"_Nah, I am betting he is an actor slash model slash singer."_ Lilly's voice rings in her head.

"Hey Mark, this is my friend Veronica. She would like a drink." Carmen turns and asks Veronica, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"Yes, she looks hot. Can I bring you a drink?" he asks flirtatiously, looking Veronica up and down. Veronica can't help but blush.

"Can I get something pink with a little paper umbrella please?" She asks. She is surprised when he not so subtly checks her out again. He obviously likes what he sees because he grins down at her.

"I have just a thing for such a pretty woman," he flirted. He started to move away.

"She is only 16, so it better not be alcoholic." Macy called out. He stopped suddenly in his tracks and turned his astonished face back to them.

"You are only 16?" he asks amazedly. Veronica can't help but giggle at his surprised gaze. "Umm, a mocktail it is." He hurriedly leaves. He turns back to glance at them again in utter confusion. He heads towards the bar.

"OMG! Veronica, he was so checking you out until he found out you were only 16." The girls make Veronica blush more, so much that when Mark comes back with her drink, she can barely look up at him. She takes her drink with a soft thanks. Yet all the girls watch him walking away to serve another group of girls.

"Yeah, he has flirted with all of us this afternoon. Nice eye candy but I don't think he is the smartest book on the shelf", Mac says, grinning at Veronica. "We thought you shouldn't miss out."

"Gee thanks. Now do you think he is a wannabe actor or a wannabe model like us?" Veronica asks sarcastically. This starts an involved debate between the girls. They don't notice Gwen filming the entire thing with a cheeky grin on her face.

The girls spend the rest of the evening making Mark feel uncomfortable about their young ages, as they giggled and gossiped and had him bring drinks and their dinner to them beside the pool. Just before 8:30, they headed up to their rooms. They all felt sad to say goodnight to each other, but as Macy pointed out to them, she had the worst luck as she didn't share a room with any of them.

Mac, Krystal and Veronica quickly get changed for bed. After a long day they are all tired, and tomorrow is another early morning start. Veronica is the first one to notice Danielle's luggage is missing. Krystal and Mac shrug. They couldn't care less where she is. Veronica decides not to worry either. Krystal and Mac fall to sleep quickly, but for Veronica sleep evades her. Now she is thinking back on her interview, she is worried how she is going to be shown.

"_I think you did brilliantly. I hope someone shows Celeste this show. She is going to be pissed when the girl she ostracised wins." _Lilly says, appearing beside her bed.

"Oh Lilly, you should be here with me." Veronica says.

"_I_ _am always with you Veronica Mars..."_ Lilly replies as Veronica slips into dreamland. Her last semi conscious thought is that she can smell Lilly's perfume.

That night, Veronica is plagued by the dreams she has had since Lilly died. In them, while the start may differ, the ending is the same, Lilly still falls to the ground with blood pouring from her head, and as much as Veronica tries, she can never stop the figure in black from killing Lilly.

Veronica wakes up in a pool of sweat very early. It is not yet light, but like after all her nightmares, she doesn't feel like going back to sleep. She checks her phone to check the time. There is still over an hour before her alarm is supposed to go off. She decides to throw some clothes on and head down to the hotel's gym instead. She quietly changes into black leggings and a short black tank top, picks up her sneakers and sneaks out the door into the hallway. She puts her sneakers on in the light and starts to head to the lift. As she pushes the button she is startled by a voice behind her.

"And where do you think you are going?" a very skinny brunette asks her, a scowl on her face.

"To the gym?" Veronica answers, feeling like a naughty 5 year old.

"That is OK." The woman sighs. Veronica notices deep dark circles under her eyes.

"You look tired. Can I grab you a coffee before I start?"

The woman looks surprised. She had been up all night patrolling the hallways for girls misbehaving. Two girls had tried to sneak Mark into their rooms, 3 had been caught with alcohol and 1 had snuck in at 1am, under the influence of something. Her boss had been up to see her half an hour earlier and hadn't noticed how tired she was, but this teenage girl had? Just when she was ready to declare all teenage girls as selfish stupid, wastes of space, one goes ahead and proves her wrong.

"I get off in half an hour, but thanks." She replied.

Veronica smiled at her and entered the lift that had just arrived. She didn't realise, but her number of admirers had just increased.

When Veronica entered the gym she was surprised that she wasn't the only girl up early. There were four other girls working out on the machines. Veronica smiled at them shyly, but her smile was ignored. She shrugged, and hopped onto the treadmill. It wasn't the same as walking/running with Back-up, but it was an OK alternative.

Veronica eased off the boredom (at least with Back-up, running was interesting as he was always dragging her to sniff a new person, a bit of rubbish or another dog) by observing the other four girls.

Two of them were really skinny. One of the girls had her back exposed and Veronica could easily see all the bumps and protrusions of her backbone. Both girls looked extremely vulnerable with their protruding collar bones and shrunken cheeks. One of the other girls looked positively obese working out next to these girls, yet Veronica guessed she was of a normal size. This girl kept looking at the girls next to her and then putting up the speed. It was apparent she aspired to be like them. The last girl moved around the machines in a circuit and then included planks and push ups in her routine. Veronica decided that she was an athlete of some sort, and her muscle tone supported this idea.

All the girls were focussed on their work out. No words were exchanged between any of them. Veronica decided that she definitely enjoyed running with Back-up more. Her stomached growled. She checked the time. She got off the machine in a panic. She didn't have much time to get ready for the next challenge. She basically ran back to her room, all sweaty and messy. When she entered the room she was met by a very pissed off Krystal.

"Where have you been? Do you know how worried I have been? I woke up and you were gone. I had to ask the woman in the hallway if she knew where you were! I could have come to the gym with you, or, did you want to get away from me?" Krystal's anger changes to worry and self doubt.

"No! Krystal, I know that if I had gone to the gym with you I would have had a lot more fun. I just couldn't sleep and I didn't want to wake you and Mac up so I thought I would go down there instead. But if you want, I can wake you up at the crack of dawn next time." Veronica asks, grinning at Krystal.

"Count me out." Mac interrupts. "It is too early for me to be up now!"

Krystal grins at Veronica. "Yeah, well, if it is not too early I will be up for it. Poor Mac was woken to me all noisy and worried. Gosh, I hope I'm not turning into my mother. Now you better get in the shower quickly. I have already ordered you some food."

Veronica grimaces. "I don't know what to wear!" she cries.

Krystal pushes her towards the bathroom. "Just grab underwear, I'll choose your outfit."

Veronica hesitates, then nods, grabbing flesh coloured underwear and gets into the shower. She is a bit worried about what Krystal is going to choose for her.

"_So you should be, Veronica Mars. I would never choose what she has chosen for you to wear_." Lilly says.

Veronica gets out of the shower with trepidation. She quickly dries her hair and puts on a small amount of makeup. She then exits the bathroom. She breathes a sigh of relief. Yes, Lilly would never choose something like this for her, but then Lilly always wanted her to bare lots of skin. Krystal had chosen black jeans with a pastel blue shirt. Veronica changed into it quickly. Krystal then lent her some deep blue beads which made her outfit look more interesting.

After eating their breakfast, they only had a few minutes to get to the next challenge. They rushed downstairs to the lobby. As the girls gathered in the same large room as they had the walking challenge the noise in the room rose as their excitement rose. Pauly walked in looking smug.

"Girls, it is time for the first cut." He is positively gleeful about ending the dreams of 20 girls. The room falls silent. "The girls who were not good enough will be sent home immediately. The girls who made it through, you still have a lot of work to do to get even slightly up to par."

"CUT! Pauly, that is not what we decided on you saying. All these girls have done a great job. Now say it properly or 20 girls are not the only people in this room getting cut." This is said sternly by a woman who is slim and short. Her hair is brown and is cut in a short bob and she is wearing glasses. Her black suit is cut severely and is not worn to show off her body. Yet Juanita is standing next to her and is not so subtly trying to suck up to her. Veronica decides this woman must be very powerful.

Pauly goes red. Flounces over to an assistant to get the perspiration that formed on his forehead brushed off and then comes back to his position in the middle of the room.

"Girls, it is time for the first cut. The girls who did not make it into the next stage of the contest will have to pack immediately and will be sent home. This does not mean they are not beautiful, it just means they do not have what we are looking for this year. The girls who made it through still have a lot of work to do." He pauses and looks at the woman who nods and motions for him to continue. "In the room next to this one, we have set up 30 dressing tables. The girls who have made it to the next stage will find a photo of themselves taped to the mirror."

Gwen and another camera operator (Veronica had overheard Gwen call him Ray) pan the cameras over the faces of the girls, focussing on girls who looked nervous, terrified and the few who look confident.

The woman walks over to Pauly. "Better. But this afternoon you and I are going to have a chat." She tells him. Under his makeup he goes pale. She faces the girls.

"My name is Caroline Conners and I am the executive producer on this show."

Veronica recognises the name. Aaron and Lynn Echolls had thrown a dinner party for this lady and her husband. Logan had explained to her and Lilly that Caroline and her husband Grant were considered Hollywood Royalty, everything they touched turned to gold. Every year they or one of their shows won at least one award. To impress these two meant that you would have a successful and long career. To annoy them meant that the character you were playing could suddenly meet a dramatic death (Logan had reminded them of the character dying from chemical burns from a reaction to hair dye on one of their hit shows) and jobs would dry up quickly after. Aaron had really wanted to impress them, so much so, that Logan's house had been out of bounds for the week before as Aaron hadn't wanted as much as a blade of grass out of place.

Caroline stared at all the girls and smiled. "If you do not get selected, we will be flying you home first class. We have some people who are ready to talk to you to make sure you are OK so if you want to talk to someone, let us know."

She strides back over to her place beside Juanita and nods at Pauly.

"OK, ready steady, GO!" He quickly moves out of the way as a barrage of girls run towards the doors.

It is chaos as the girls rush to make it to the dressing tables. For the girls not running, the producers yell at them to run. Veronica and Mac decide that they don't want to do this again and make sure they run too.

Veronica is worried when the first few dressing tables she sees don't have her picture. She runs to one in the corner. She is happy to see a photo of Krystal taped to the mirror.

"Krystal! You made it!" she calls out waving for Krystal to come over. Krystal squeals, runs over and grabs Veronica in a hug. She then pushes Veronica towards the other tables. "Find yours quickly."

Veronica passes girls crying noisily, girls crying silently, girls squealing with happiness and girls stomping their feet in anger that they didn't get in. Madison is one of the latter girls.

"I didn't get in? I have modelled already. I have appeared in three commercials. I am Logan Echolls girlfriend! I have had lots of dinners with Aaron Echolls and HE thinks I am attractive! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE NOT TO CHOOSE ME?" Her voice reaches screaming pitch, her face is red and her scowl shows exactly why she wasn't picked. She looks decidedly unattractive. Gwen goes in for a close up.

Veronica keeps moving past her. Mac is sitting in front of a table in absolute shock that she was picked and Madison wasn't. Veronica starts to panic. They didn't choose her? Even though Madison wasn't picked, the people at school are going to have a field day with the fact she wasn't picked.

"_Veronica Mars, look to your left_." Lilly giggles.

Veronica looks to the left, and there on the mirror is a photo of her. She can't stop the large grin that appears on her face. She made it past the first cut. She looks around the room. Macy, Carmen and Ali Lee are all sitting at tables grinning with happiness.

Madison and a few other girls who didn't get in are still arguing with the producers. Veronica sees Cindy crying, black marks streaking down her cheeks. She gets up and wraps her arms around her.

"Why didn't they like me?" she sobs.

"I don't know, but you should go home remembering that you are a beautiful girl who was picked as one of the 50 best looking girls in this contest. Think of all the girls who didn't get this far." Veronica comforts her. Cindy looks happier.

"So it is not the worst thing to not make it into the top 12?" hiccups Cindy.

"Nah. Didn't you say you wanted to be an actress more anyway? Why don't you take this as a sign that you should go to acting classes instead?" Veronica answers. Cindy beams at Veronica.

"Yeah! Oh, you are so nice. I hope you win. See you around." She gives Veronica a hug and skips off.

The producers herd the girls who didn't make the first cut out of the room. It takes awhile. Madison is still yelling as they finally close the door in her face.

Juanita asks the girls to hug and congratulate each other for making it this far for the cameras. After all of the things the producers have asked them to do, this is definitely the easiest thing. Veronica can't keep the smile off her face as she, Krystal, Mac, Macy, Carmen and Ali Lee dance around in a circle singing 'we made it, we made it.'

After all, she is really happy. She got in and Madison didn't.

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A/N: Just to guilt you all, I am in a lot of pain, but my Doctor has prescribed reviews as one of the things to help my recovery. So even if you hated it... let me know!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thanks to all of my reviewers! I am sure the only reason there has been a tiny decrease in pain was because of all your lovely reviews. As you can see, I have an update quicker than usual and this is all down to the fact that I can barely walk so I have plenty of time to write, and the fact that so many of you reviewed. So Thanks : )

Oh, and just a reminder, I don't own Veronica Mars or any related characters, but I am enjoying playing with them.

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"OK girls, just because you got this far does not mean that you can relax. There is a bus waiting outside to take you to your first photo shoot." Pauly says, interrupting their happy dances.

The girls make their way out of the room, through the lobby and out the doors to a bus waiting outside. Veronica clambers up the steps and looks around to see where she can sit. She is used to people preventing her from sitting down.

"Hey Veronica, I saved you a seat." Veronica heard from numerous directions. Macy, Krystal and Mac had all saved her a seat. Carmen and Ali Lee were already sitting next to each other. Veronica sat down next to Mac and Macy got up and sat with Krystal instead. They started to discuss what the photo shoot might be.

The bus drove for awhile before it pulled up at the beach. The girls exited the bus and stood in the car park. Jake is there waiting for them.

"Hello girls. Congratulations on making it so far. You were chosen because you showed promise in your runway walk, you wore your swimsuits confidently and your answers to your interview questions showed that you are all interesting people. Now it is time to see if you can convey all of that into a photograph. Today you will have 25 frames to get a picture which will capture our attention and show off an outfit perfectly." Jake is definitely more motivating and nicer than Pauly.

The girls were sent over to some tents set up on the sand. This was where the producers had set up hair and makeup. Veronica and her new friends were ready quickly which was not hard to do if you didn't argue with the makeup artists and hairdressers like some of the girls were doing. Veronica wondered why those girls thought they knew better than the experts.

Then there were the arguments over what dress to wear. Veronica definitely didn't know what there was to argue about. All the dresses were gorgeous. The only thing Veronica was worried about was whether she could sand on them. She was really glad she was given a shorter dress to wear. She felt sorry for Mac who had a much longer one.

Mac's name was one of the first to be called out. She nervously walked out of the tent to the well wishes from the rest of the group. They didn't want the girls to watch each other before they had had their go, so the rest of them sweltered in the hot musty air in the tents. Mac came back and looked happy.

"The photographer is really nice. It wasn't too bad." She explains to the others. She then makes them promise to head to the left of the tent, down to the water after their shoots where she will be waiting. She is a bit cranky that she didn't bring a book with her.

Krystal has her shoot soon after and then Veronica's name is called.

She walked down to the edge of the water where the photographer was set up, trying not to be too nervous.

"OK Veronica, this dress is fun and flirty, so I want to see that reflected in your photo." Jake tells her.

"_You can do this Veronica Mars_." Lilly's voice whispers in her ear.

Veronica posed in front of the camera. She felt stiff an awkward. She could see after the first few 'frames' that Jake and the photographer were not impressed.

"_Veronica Mars! What are you doing? Forget about those guys and pretend that you are showing off a new dress to your friends and you are just having fun at the beach_." Lilly yells in her year.

Veronica smiles slightly and pulls the sides of her dress out as if she is a little kid showing off a new dress.

"Yes! That's it. Give me more of that." The photographer cries out. Jake looks impressed.

Veronica gives a shy smile and plays with the dress. She then changes it slightly. The photographer takes about 10 shots with Veronica changing each pose slightly, before he asks Veronica to change it more.

"_Fun and Flirty_." Lilly reminds her.

Veronica decides to do a pose she knows she would want to take a photo of. She laughs and twirls around.

"Brilliant! Keep doing that." Jake yells. Veronica swirls and laughs for the next few frames.

"Done. Very good." The photographer tells her. She thanks him and then gets the OK to go back to the tents.

Macy was already there, practicing poses. Her dress was sexy and sophisticated and Macy was trying to mimic that in her poses. When she saw Veronica, she showed the first sign of insecurity Veronica had ever seen her show.

"What do you think of this pose? Is it sophisticated sexy or trashy sexy?" she asks Veronica. Veronica stands back and ponders as Macy poses in front of her.

"I think it is sophisticated sexy, but don't pout your lips too much and keep your legs looking natural. Don't stiffen them up." Veronica replies.

"Thanks Veronica." Macy says as she heads down to the photographer. Veronica hopes she does well. She changes back into clothes and then heads down to the beach.

Krystal has decided to start a sand building contest. While many of the girls wrinkle their noses in disgust, Mac and Veronica really get into it. Macy soon joins in and proves that she is competitive, 'accidently' causing the side of Veronica's castle to collapse. Veronica retaliates and by the end of the contest, neither has any castle left to speak of. Carmen's castle is awarded runner up due to intricate shell decorations but it is Mac's geometric sand design which wins first place.

When Veronica and her friends board the bus at the end of the day sandy and tired, but with huge smiles on their faces Veronica realises with amazement that for the first time since Lilly died, she really does feel happy.

When they get back to the hotel, the producers tell them that tonight they will be having a special dinner to celebrate getting so far into the contest but also because for most of them, it will be the last night of the contest. The judges and producers will be picking out the Top 12 tomorrow and it will be announced tomorrow evening.

Veronica enjoys getting ready for the fancy meal with Krystal and Mac. It reminds her of getting ready to go out with Lilly, but (and she feels a bit like a traitor thinking this) it is more fun because she knows that these girls will not be leaving her alone at the end of the night (or during) because they have 'secret' business. She does miss Lilly's honest opinions of her outfits though. Krystal is telling her every selection is 'gorgeous' and Mac really doesn't care about clothes so she just says fine at each selection.

Macy barges into the room with her suitcases. "If Danielle can change rooms, so can I" she declares. A producer is behind her trying to argue, but as Macy keeps pointing out that Danielle is still in the contest but hasn't once slept in the room assigned to her, they have set a precedent, so why can't she change rooms? In the end, Macy convinces her to let her change rooms.

The minute the producer leaves the room, Macy looks at the dress Veronica is wearing.

"No." She says and lets her eyes roam over the dresses draped on Veronica's bed. "This one will bring out your inner hotness more." She passes Veronica the short black dress. "But where is your hot red dress? Veronica, you should wear red and black and dark colours, not this wishy, washy pastel crap." She gestures at the other dresses Veronica had packed.

Veronica stares at Macy. She knows it is not possible (it wasn't was it?) but it was like Lilly was inhabiting another body.

In the end, Veronica is wearing a short beaded black dress with black high heels. She looks at the other girls. Macy is in a low cut red sequined dress with black accessories. Krystal is wearing a deep blue floor length gown while Mac is wearing green.

As the girls cross the lobby towards the restaurant, none of them notice Mark and a few of his friends checking them out and basically drooling. One almost walks into the fancy statue in the middle of the lobby.

The night is a lot of fun. One of the producers has obviously put a lot of time into organising this function. They are seated in their own private room, so the girls can make as much noise as possible. The girls can order whatever they like, however, girls who are over 21 must wear a wrist band to get service from the bar. The producer warns them that any girl found with alcohol who is not of legal age will be automatically cut from the contest.

Veronica sits between Mac and Krystal and opposite Macy, Carmen and Ali Lee. Danielle is at the other end of the table with a group of other girls, and while every now and again someone glares at Veronica, it is not half as uncomfortable as if Madison had been there.

The producer announces that like most things, the dinner will be taped, however, at this stage there are no plans to show any of the night's footage. She then brings in the fun for the evening. Every 15 minutes, one of the girls gets to choose a new rule which all the others must follow for 15 minutes. At first they are boring things such as be silent for the 15 minutes but then they get to Macy. Once again, Veronica sees a bit of Lilly in her grin.

"Any time someone one speaks, they are to replace the 'L' sound with a 'P'." She states.

A few girls mumble in confusion. Mac grins at Macy.

"Pisten here Macy. I think these povey padies are a bit confused with your new rupe" she calls out causing Krystal to almost choke with laughter.

Veronica can't help joining in.

"Don't worry Mace, I Pove you rupe. Now pass me the pemonade."

A few more girls catch on and join in, but some (Veronica is sure they still believe the rumours) sit silently with a snotty look on their faces. Veronica can't help but be reminded of Celeste.

The girls who thought Macy's rule was bad are soon sitting back grimacing. Mac's is worse. She declares that everyone needs to talk in rhymes!

Krystal asks the waiter (not Mark but just as good looking) with lots of giggles to 'Tell me no lies, just order me the fries."

A girl named Sadie who has very pale skin and bright red curly hair orders "I will have the vegetarian pies, the best choice because no animal dies."

Most girls follow Ali Lee's example. "I have this one here." Pointing at the menu, "and a ginger beer."

Veronica makes all the girls sing their conversations and Krystal has then all try and eat using only one hand (the one they don't normally use).

In the end, the girls who don't mind embarrassing themselves have a great time. The girls who feel that it is all childish and beneath them, hate every moment of the night. Luckily, these girls are small in numbers so the night is considered a success by the producers who wanted the girls to have some good memories of the contest if they do end up not making it through.

That night, Veronica sleeps deeply, with no nightmares.

She wakes up naturally to sunlight streaming into the room. Because there is nothing more for the girls to do to impress, they were able to sleep in. Veronica feels a bit sad. By the end of the day she will find out if she will make it into the Top 12, but it is also the last day she will be able to spend with her new friends. She is not looking forward to going home to Neptune and having to deal with her old friends, Duncan ignoring her, Logan making her life hell and everyone else following their lead. She is desperately hoping that she gets into the Top 12 with her friends.

"_Just enjoy the time you have_." Lilly tells her.

Veronica and her new friends spend the day beside the pool. Veronica has her camera with her, and the girls naturally pose for photos, but she also takes some candid action shots.

All too soon, it is time to get changed for the revealing of the Top 12. All the girls are silent while they get changed and head to the area the producers have chosen as the right backdrop for this scene. The producers are running around, making sure girls know that there are people to talk to if they don't get in, that they need to sign the confidentiality forms and that there are tissues available.

They line the girls up in a specific order. Veronica feels her heart drop when she realise they have separated her from her friends. Macy is behind her, but both Mac and Krystal are a few girls down from her. Mac and Krystal are nervously holding hands. The girl next to Macy tries to hold her hand but Macy stares her down.

"Um, are you my friend? No, then don't try and pretend you care if I get in or not." She states. She glares at the girl.

Veronica has to stifle her giggles. A few moments she has no trouble not laughing. Miranda has moved to a spot in front of the girls. It is time.

Veronica will later wish she could recall what Miranda says as an introduction, but she is so nervous she doesn't listen. In her head she is pleading with Lilly, to get her and her friends in.

"_Who do you think I am? I'm not God, Veronica Mars. But I promise I did visit the judges at night and whispered in their ears your name if it makes you feel better. I am your own personal fairy godmother_." Lilly cackles.

"The first person who made it into our Top 12 is..." Miranda's voice drags her back to reality.

Miranda pauses for dramatic effect. A producer is just off camera with a teleprompter which Veronica guesses has the names of the Top 12.

"Abrianna." The tall African American girl who was first for both the runway challenge and the interviews squeals with absolute delight. She has tears running down her face as she walks over to the spot assigned for the girls who make it through. She promises Miranda that she won't let her down.

"The second girl in the house is...Sadie."

The red haired vegetarian squeals and struts over to Abrianna. The two girls hug each other.

"Mac."

Mac is grabbed into a hug by Krystal. Veronica can see she is in total shock at being picked. Krystal has to push her forwards.

Both Sadie and Abrianna try and hug her, but Mac stands there awkwardly, stiff as a pole.

"Ali Lee".

Ali Lee smiles her shy smile and quietly walks and stands next to Mac. The producers discuss whether they should make her redo that scene, but Caroline Conner quickly tells them that response is fine.

"The next girl through is... Jackie!" Miranda states.

A tall African American girl pumps her fist in the air. "Yes!" She confidently walks over and stands next to Abrianna.

"And...Carmen."

Veronica smiles happily for her friend, but inside she is panicking. That's six girls and she and Macy and Krystal have not been called.

"We are half way through out Top 12. The next girl in is... Mallory!" Miranda says, smiling at the girls.

A girl wearing a leather jacket and with short black hair moves forward. She gives the girls already in a high five.

"Jazmin."

The girl squeals, hugs the girls standing beside her and then runs forward and surprises Miranda by hugging her. The producers tell her to move into place as Miranda calmly straightens her clothes.

"The next girl through is..."

"Come on already." Veronica hears Macy grumble under her breath. Veronica understands completely. She hates it how presenters pause and try and stretch out the tension. It just makes it annoying.

"Parker!"

A blond girl bursts into tears and moves forward. She keeps crying with happiness even when Miranda moves to the next selection. Veronica wants to walk over and grab her a tissue to wipe her eyes because she has mascara dripping everywhere.

"Veronica!"

Veronica startles. She wonders if she is going to get into trouble for not paying attention.

"_Dorkus, you got IN_!" Lilly yells at her.

Veronica can't help the grin that spreads over her face. She basically skips over to where Mac, Carmen and Ali Lee are waiting with arms outstretched, to give her a hug.

"The next girl is..." Veronica can see that many of the girls waiting are crying or trying to hold back tears. Krystal has a tear sliding down her cheek. Veronica captures her eyes and Krystal tries to smile at her, but Veronica can see she is dying inside. But there are two names left to go.

"...Macy!"

Macy grins, says thanks to Miranda and joins Veronica and the others in a hug. She is trying to play it cool, but Veronica can tell that she is really excited and relieved to be picked.

"And the twelfth girl is..." Miranda pauses to look over the crowd of girls. Most of them are now openly crying and all are looking at her with pleading expressions. Behind her, Veronica can hear Macy and Carmen chanting under their breaths "Krystal, Krystal, please be Krystal."

Veronica starts chanting it in her head.

"Sandy!"

An Indian looking girl squeals, her tears drying up immediately. She basically skips over to the rest of the Top 12. Veronica, Mac, Carmen, Ali Lee and Macy are staring at Krystal in shock and concern. Out of all of them, Krystal was the one who wanted it the most. She knew who the fashion designers were, could recite which people were the best makeup artists and had also practiced her runway walk and photograph poses any chance she got. And all five of them thought she was good! Why hadn't she got in?

Krystal is trying to maintain her pose, but tears are streaming down her face. She tries to smile at the girls, but is unsuccessful. A few other girls have fallen to the floor and are practically wailing. Danielle is there stamping her feet and asking if the producers know who her dad is. Veronica notices Caroline staring at her like she knows exactly who her dad is and she doesn't care.

Veronica starts to wonder what is going on when the producers and camera people don't move. Miranda is still standing in place and it looks like she is waiting for a signal. She hopes they don't want to re-film these scenes. Miranda receives a nod from Caroline.

"Girls, in this industry, heartbreak can happen quickly, but fortunes can change in the blink of an eye." The girls who didn't get into the Top 12, stop wailing and crying and stand still and are silent in anticipation.

"Because we had such a strong group of talented girls for this contest, we decided that we couldn't just have twelve girls in the contest. One more girl impressed us so much we had to include her in the Top 12, which has now become the Top 13." Miranda announces. The girls wailing on the floor look up stupidly with hope.

"The thirteenth girl into the contest is... Krystal!"

Veronica and her friends cheer loudly for Krystal, and pay no notice to the producers trying to shush them. Krystal runs to them and they grab her in a group hug. They are all so happy to have all get into the Top 13, that they don't mind when the producers make them re-enact the moment again, with less cheering.

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A/N: Once again, please review. As motivation to fill in that lovely box, the next chapter has a certain character that so many of you have asked about and the more reviews I get, the faster Logan's chapter will be uploaded. Hmmm, resorting to guilt last chapter and bribery this chapter, but really, how else will I get reviews?


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: OK, this took me a lot longer to write than I thought. It is also a lot longer than I had planned. I had a much harder time getting into the heads of these characters than I thought I would. I have agonised over it and rewritten half of it. Hope you like it.**

**Thanks to all my reviewers, especially to the Guest reviewers who I couldn't reply to individually - B, haylee and Nichols**

**Also, the character of Jazmin is based on a girl I work with. The interview is based on an actual conversation I have had with her that has always stuck in my memory. So I do not own that part! The rest is all me, playing with the characters of Veronica Mars (who I don't own) and the format of 'Next Top Model' (which I don't own, not the American version, the Aussie version, the Kiwi version or the English version, but I love them all!). **

* * *

**One Week Later**

"What a dud of a party. So glad we left early. Who throws a party with their parents there, invite only members of the celibacy club and have no booze?" The blond guy looked completely confused.

"Yeah, well my parents are away filming, I have booze but what are we going to do about girls?" The boy with dark brown eyes asked as he flopped casually onto the bed in his parent's pool house.

The other guys in the room looked at him pathetically. Logan sighed to himself. All his friends, Dick, Casey, Beaver, Luke, Sean and of course Duncan were single, but could any of them actually organise a 'hook up' themselves? No. They relied on him to hook up with a girl and then they would move onto her friends.

"Look, it is the start of summer. Half the girls in Neptune have gone away. I think the celibacy club members are the only ones left." Logan answered his own question.

"Yeah, I think even that slut Veronica Mars has gone away for the summer." Dick commented as he poured himself a drink. "We could have had fun with her." He leered, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Duncan turned red, but remained silent.

Logan sat up quickly. "Yeah, but we don't want to go there do we?" To anyone even slightly observant his voice sounded questioning and unconvinced. Beaver turned his head in his direction "I mean, do we really want to get risk getting diseased?" he asked in his usual jackass voice when he noticed Beaver looking at him questionly.

"Ha, good one." Dick said as he passed a glass of liquid amber to Logan. "Hey that new model show is on. Lets watch that." He said as he grabbed the remote of the large screen TV and changed channels to 'Supermodel Search'.

The other guys made a few 'gay', 'loser' and 'pussy' comments, but these stopped once the show started and the guys got their first look at the contestants. 50 girls between the ages of 16 and 24, blonds, brunettes, red heads. It was like their dreams coming true.

"Dude!" Dick commented, his mouth dropping open and, yes, a bit of drool forming.

**Voice over of host**: _Good Evening America. Welcome to the first episode of 'Supermodel Search'. We are searching for a new model who has that distinct 'something', that controversial or debatable beauty that defies description. What is beauty to you? Is it odd, bizarre, edgy ... or safe, clean, predictable? Or is it all of this? This show will show you all types of beauty._

_50 beautiful young women were selected from all over America and flown to The Four Seasons Resort in LA to participate in a competition which will be an adventure of a lifetime. They will learn about poise, grace and elegance, how to work a runway and how to ensure that they photograph well._

_50 potential new models will begin this competition, but only one will have what it takes to be crowned America's Supermodel._

While the voice over plays, the boys are greeted to scenes of various girls arriving at the resort, entering rooms and claiming beds and then a whole lot of girls in skimpy pyjamas dancing around rooms. All the boy's eyes are transfixed on the screen.

A large breasted blond appears on the screen.

"I am the next Supermodel" she states confidently.

She is replaced by a beautiful brunette. "I will be the next Supermodel." She also says with conviction.

The scene changes to show all the girls waiting in a large room talking. As the camera pans over the crowd, Logan is sure he catches a glimpse of familiar blond hair. His first thought is 'Lilly?' but he shakes his head at his own stupidity.

On the screen, a woman struts down a black runway. Dick and Sean whistle. Logan has to agree. Even though he isn't usually into brunettes, this one is HOT with capital H. Her legs are long and shapely and her breast round and perky. He wishes she was wearing a lower cut suit.

"Hello. Welcome to Supermodel Search. My name is Miranda McPherson. I will be your host and judge for the contest. We have gathered 50 beautiful future models from over America," she says, and the cameras pan over the crowd of squealing girls. "But only one will become America's New Supermodel." A few of the girls who had squealed are now looking worried.

"What is a Supermodel? A Supermodel usually refers to a fashion model that has a worldwide reputation and a background in both haute culture and commercial modelling. They are able to look good in all sorts of clothes both in photographs and on the runway, but also can sell a product and associate themselves with a specific brand or campaign. This contest will find which girl has the ability to become a future Supermodel." Miranda looks at all the girls and smiles.

"There are 50 of you, but by the end of this week, only 12 of you will enter the "Model Mansion' and only one of you will be titled America's Supermodel. I have gathered some of the best models, photographers and fashion designers to help teach you how to be the best model you can be." Miranda continues.

Logan is impressed. Unlike many people who are often on camera, she appears natural and unrehearsed.

"Let me introduce you to one of these people. Your runway coach is an ex-model who has always had a natural command over the audience in whatever fashion show they walked. They have modelled in New York, Paris, Milan, London, Sydney and Hong Kong, just to name a few places. Help me in introducing, Mr Pauly Gale." She starts clapping, standing to the side.

The camera pans over the clapping and squealing girls and focuses on the curtain at the back of the runway. It is flung back, and a tall man with blond hair, appears.

The boys start laughing. Luke laughs so much he snorts his drink out his nose which does not help the boys settle down. Logan has grown up knowing the tricks and trades of how people in Hollywood try and get attention, but this is bizarre. Pauly Gale, is wearing a billowing dark blue dress and more makeup than Aaron wears on a photo shoot. He walks down the runway and then arrogantly pauses and states_ "I am the best in the business, so you need to listen to what I say." _

Logan pulls a face. If living with Aaron has taught him anything, it is that if you need to say you are the best, it usually means you just want that position.

"Show me how you walk down a runway." Pauly states.

A girl with an expression of pure terror appears at the end of the runway. She then stands up straighter and a look of sheer determination forms on her face. She starts to strut down the runway.

The boys whistle again.

The caption at the bottom of the screen states that she is 'Abrianna' 20 from Chicago.

They then show Abrianna commenting on how she felt. "All the girls were looking at me. I was sure I was going to fall, cry, do something wrong. I realised that people ARE going to be looking at me in this contest."

"She just worked out that people are going to be looking at her on a televised Modelling Contest? She should be glad it is not 'Are you smarter than a 5th Grader'." Beaver comments.

"OH BURN!" Dick exclaims and high fives Beaver. Beaver looks immensely proud that he impressed the others with his catty comment.

The next girl to walk is 'Madison' 16 from Neptune.

"Maddy! That's where you are!" Cries out Dick. He follows up with a frown and, "But she isn't a model."

"She thinks she is. I've been telling you for years she was delusional." Beaver replies with disgust.

All the boys watch the screen as she walks down the runway with a stupid smile on her face.

"No, No! Don't shake those hips too much; you want to be high class, not a stripper!" Pauly says.

The boys start laughing again but Dick is peeved. "She walks like a stripper, but she definitely doesn't do anything else like one". The boys laugh even harder. Logan has never been a fan of Madison, and he and Casey get up and imitate Madison's walk. They are laughing so hard they miss the next couple of girls. When Pauly starts walking, holding his body up stiff, like he has a pole running through it, but then starts moving his hips from side to side the boys loose it completely.

"OK, his walk is better than yours." Laughs Duncan at Logan and Casey.

The next girl to appear on screen stops all noise.

The boys stare as 'Veronica' 16 from Neptune appears at the end of the runway.

They watch in amazement as she struts down the runway. Logan tries to close his eyes to the sight he sees every time Veronica walks away after an encounter with him. But as normal, the tightening in his groin makes him unable to look away.

At the end she strikes a pose, one hand on her hip.

"Wow. We have attitude here! That walk won't be suitable in all situations, but for an edgy fashion house it would be fine. Not bad." Pauly says.

The other boys cannot believe it. The Veronica Mars they ignore or torment does not walk like that.

"Dudes, pinch me. That can't be Veronica Mars!" Dick exclaims. No one answers him.

Casey is trying to remember why he has been ignoring such a hot girl. Duncan is looking at the screen, trying not to have improper thoughts about his sister. Logan is trying to remind himself that Veronica is a traitor and that he definitely does NOT think she is hot.

A few more girls are shown walking, but the only one the boys take notice of after their shock is a girl named 'Krystal' 18 from Cottonwood Falls. The other girls all fade into the background. Pauly's comments are funny though.

Dick repeats one. "'Aren't Dinosaurs extinct? Then why are you walking like one?' Oh, I'm so going to repeat that one to Madison when she comes back to school."

The footage shows 'Mallory' 21 from Seattle talking about her runway walk. "I don't have any modelling experience, but I have this catwalk that is just natural. I don't do anything, it's just there."

Dick is not impressed with her looks. "Her short hair makes her look butch. OOhhh. I hope she makes out with one of the other contestants." He says making an obscene and very offensive gesture.

Sean agrees, while the rest of the guys ignore Dick, rolling their eyes.

The ad break is a welcome relief to most of them. They grab more drinks and snacks and then settle in to perv on the hot girls.

When the show comes back from the ad break, they show some of the girls being interviewed. 'Abrianna' is asked questions about growing up in Chicago. She has a heart breaking story about how her Mum was on drugs growing up and how her brother had been killed in a gang attack. Her grandmother raised her and made her realise that you can achieve your dreams.

"She's in." Luke says as they show her walking in her bikini. "She has the human interest story and looks good." The boys decide she is a '7'.

The next girl they show is an Asian looking girl. She seems shy but Beaver and Luke have conversation about how there is something that just attracts you to her. Logan wants to join in, but feels it would be 'too girly'. Ali Lee talks about her heritage, her mother is Chinese/American, and her father is a traditional Chinese father and is not happy she wants to be a model. Her mother is thrilled.

The boys give 'Ali Lee' 17 from Massachusetts a 7.

'Parker' 18 from Denver appears on screen. The boys tease Logan about her being his type, blonde and stacked. Logan smirks at them, but after Parker cries at the fact she is meeting Miranda and then gushes at how gorgeous she is, he has gone cold on her. He can just imagine how she would react meeting his parents. No thanks.

The boys give her a score of 6.5.

The footage shows more of Parker gushing. "Miranda McPherson is so beautiful. She is so flawless. She really looks like she has just jumped out of a magazine cover."

Logan quietly bumps her down even further to a 5.

The footage changes to show scenes of the girls relaxing by the pool. It shows them in their swimsuits and laughing. It shows Madison holding court in one corner.

"I mean, really, they have let all sorts of girls into the contest. We have strippers and sluts who are here thinking this is a way to achieve some sort of delusional dream. But really, who wants the next Supermodel to come from nowhere? They need to pick girls with class who will be able to fit into the social occasions a Supermodel will participate in." The other girls snigger and the snobby expressions on their faces make them look as ugly as the conversation they are having.

Logan is reminded of why he keeps saying no to Madison. She really is very unattractive when she sneers.

The next girl to be shown being interviewed is Sandeep 'Sandy' aged 20. She has really long black hair and green eyes which don't really match the idea of a typical Indian girl. She is wearing a brightly coloured sari which shows her Indian heritage even more. She explains to the judges questioning that her Father bought her Mother and elder brother out from India for a better life. She was born in America with both her parents working two jobs to help put her brother through college. She has always wanted to be a model and this contest will help her achieve this. The judges ask her if she realises that most models do not make a lot of money. She says yes, but she has learnt that the harder you work, the more you can achieve, and she will be the hardest worker in the competition.

Logan is impressed with how clever the producers have been, putting Madison's catty comment on before Sandy. Sandy's next comment shows how wrong Madison is.

"I was inspired by the fact that Miranda and her Mum at one stage lived in a women's refuge because her father was abusive. She overcame that horror and poverty to become one of the most sought after models in the industry. I decided that if Miranda could make her dreams come true then she can help make my dreams come true too."

Logan decides he needs to get more information about Miranda. The pamphlets he has been leaving around the house for Lynn are not getting through her drugged and drunken state anymore, so this new story might be another catalyst.

Logan sits there silently in thought as the boys score Sandy a 9.

The next girl is a very tall and very skinny African American. She walks in confidently in a short black mini dress. The guys are impressed. She is very striking. 'Jackie' 17 from New York explains that her mother was an ex model and her father is a baseball player who believes that signing a cheque each month counts as parenting. She is asked what she thinks of the competition.

"Honestly I don't think I have competition. I mean, yeah, some of them are cute, but I am cute too, and fierce." She answers, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

The boys are expecting her to wear a bikini as her swimsuit and are surprised when she struts in wearing a one piece. They score her an 8 but agree that if she had worn a bikini, she would have scored better.

The footage shows the judges talking about the girls.

"We have a good selection of girls here." Miranda says.

"Yeah, some serious, some not and some completely crazy!" Pauly comments.

The footage then does a montage of the obviously more crazy girls. The boys snigger at the various girls singing a variations of 'pick me; I want to be a model'.

"They know this is a modelling contest, right, not American Idol?" asks Beaver.

The girls who show off their cheerleading skills, the ones who take one look at Miranda and burst into tears and the one, who for some reason, decided to perform magic tricks, presenting Miranda with a bouquet of flowers from up her sleeve. The boys just laugh.

The show goes to another ad break.

"Well, I think Parker is the hottest interviewed so far," Duncan says as he finishes off his drink and walks over to the bar. Logan can't help but roll his eyes at Duncan's predictability at choosing the most innocent and naive girl.

"I think Sandy was HOT!" Casey states and Logan has to agree. Her exotic beauty makes her look striking and interesting.

"I don't think Madison can compete with them. She is going to be really insecure when she is kicked out of the contest. I am sooooo going to get some." Dick states, leaning back on the couch with a look of pleasure on his face.

"Eww. But, for once, make her work for the sex, not the other way around," Logan advisers.

The show comes back on with a girl, Cindy from Miami commenting on the contest.

"OMG it's like, unbelievable. I want to be America's Supermodel because I think it would be so much fun and I would be so good at it".

"Wow, she is stacked!" Dick drools. Logan looks at her.

"Wannabe actress. Pass."

The next girl looks slightly uncomfortable as she faces the judges. She has brown hair with blue streaks in it. The caption at the bottom of the screen states she is Cindy 'Mac' 16 from San Diego.

The judges ask her about her nickname. "Mac, because of two reasons. One, because of my last name (here the camera pans to the judges faces. Logan realises that for privacy issues, the show obviously can't use the girl's last names) and two, because I am good with computers, even though I don't use a Mac."

The Judges laugh and, surprisingly, both Beaver and Duncan look interested.

"You have a very interesting family situation, do you want to explain to the other judges what it is?" Miranda asks Mac.

Mac looks surprised but does, with obvious hesitation.

"I was switched at birth," she explains, and both on screen and off, gasps of surprise are heard. "At the age of four, when I accidently put my hand into the way of the chain of my Dad's bike and almost cut off some fingers and lost a lot of blood, it was discovered. I didn't have a blood group compatible with my parents (my Dad is A negative, my Mum was O positive and I was B positive). My Dad knew my Mum hadn't had an affair so they looked into it and discovered that I was switched at the hospital with a girl born the day before. They received a lot of money from the hospital, but while my parents didn't want to swap me back, they did want to spend time with their 'other' daughter and my 'other' parents wanted to spend time with me. So once a month we all have dinner together, we go on holidays together and spend the festive days together. I think it works well, except for the fact I have two Dads who are refusing to let me date until I'm 30!" She smiles into the camera, her humour on the situation charming everyone.

"Your sister?, umm..." Miranda looks uncomfortable as she tries to work out how to word the question.

"Yeah, we call each other sisters, but we are not as close as we once were. That is why I am here. Our Mums thought that me participating in something that Madison is interested in will make our relationship closer" Mac replies.

"Madison?" Dick asks, but none of the boys answers.

The footage then shows 'Madison' 16 from Neptune. She is scowling at the Judges.

"Look, OK, yes, I was taken home by another family, but really, someone must have realised that I was the obvious one to be bought up wealthy. I am dating Logan Echolls after all."

Logan stares at the screen in shock before he is pulled into action by Dick wrestles him off the couch by Dick.

"You slept with my girlfriend?" Dick screams as he tries to punch Logan.

Logan is too quick and dodges the punch. Duncan and Casey force Dick up and off Logan.

"NO! I wouldn't do that to a friend. She is delusional."He says getting up off the floor. "I have never touched her, you know what I think of her."

Beaver grabs Dick and forces him outside. The other guys, being typical guys, don't say anything and they continue to watch the show. Logan sits back down on the couch, but keeps an eye on the door, ready for anymore attacks. He feels really pissed off that Dick would think he would do that to a friend, and that Madison would lie like that.

'Carmen' 19 from Texas is halfway through her interview when Logan pulls his attention back to the screen. She is talking about how her grandmother is the one who convinced her that she was beautiful enough to be in the contest. Her grandmother is currently battling cancer and Carmen is doing this for her.

"For the longest time I didn't believe I was beautiful, I thought I was ugly. It's incredible hard when you are not comfortable in your own skin," she states and Logan decides that there must be some sort of meaning the producers want to push in that statement as they linger the camera on her and her walking in the swimsuit is longer than any of the previous girls spots.

The boys give her an 8.

The next girl, Jazmin, 19 has an interesting story that takes Logan's mind off Dick. She is Muslim. The Judges question her on how she can be in the contest.

"Look, my parents are traditional, but I am not. I am lucky that my maternal grandparents came to this country so they could give their daughters the best life they could. My grandmother has always resented that just because she was female she wasn't allowed to go to school, so she made sure that her daughters were educated. My mother married a traditional Muslim guy and now wears a hijab, but my grandmother stands up for me when I do not. As my grandmother says, why hide my beauty? I still follow some beliefs, I don't eat pork, I don't drink alcohol, or eat anything that has alcohol in it and I don't believe in sex before marriage, oh of course I still believe in the Muslim beliefs, I'm not suddenly going to start praying to Jesus." She stares directly at the judges. "I also have never met a terrorist or someone who wanted to be one. Most Muslims are very kind and caring people, we give money to charity and do not believe in fighting. A select few do, and have given all of us a bad name. So the worst thing you can do to me is call me a terrorist."

After that passionate speech, the boys can't help but join the judges in their spontaneous clapping.

They score her an 8.

The ad break starts and Logan decides he needs to leave and talk to Dick. He is surprised to see Dick sitting at the edge of the room. He starts to go over, but Beaver shakes his head. He holds up a hand to tell Logan that Dick needs more time.

He goes and pours himself another drink and then heads back to seat on the couch.

The ad break is over quickly and he watches as they show 'Mallory' 21 strutting into the room. Where most of the girls have given a typical 'model pose' she does the 'rock star' pose. The judges smile in delight. Logan decides they must have been really bored at this stage, if they are showing the interviews in the order they were filmed, but he doubts it.

She talks about how she is in a band, how everyone says she should be a model so she thought, 'what the hell?' and joined the contest. She is not Logan's type, so he agrees with the low score the others give her. He is not sure she is what Dick is calling her, but she does nothing for him.

He agrees with the score of 4.

The next girl is more Logan's type. 'Krystal' 18 from Kansas is a tally leggy blond with a wide smile. She appears a bit nervous and rambles a bit. She gets very excited when she finds out Jake, one of the judges, comes from another small town near hers. She entertains both the judges and the guys with a cheerleading routine. Logan doesn't pay attention to the words, but like the rest of the guys, his head bobs up and down with her chest movements. Her walk in her bikini makes each guy give her a score of 9.

'Sadie' 21, is interviewed next. She has a mass of curly red hair, blue eyes and very pale skin. She walks in very badly, it is like she is trying to imitate how a model should walk, but has an invisible person tied to her in a three legged race. It looks awkward. Pauly the judge is not even trying to keep the smirk off his face. The boys can't help but smirk too. It is a really bad runway walk.

Sadie is 'a free spirit' and yes, she says this adding her own finger quotations. Dick gets quite excited by the thought of what a free spirit is like. He is imagining lots of sex. Beaver crushes his dreams by shushing him and Dick hears that she is a vegan. She doesn't eat any animal products or wear any. The judges ask her if she will be ok in modelling clothes or shoes made of leather. She says she will be fine but her expression is really flat, when before she was smiling.

Logan, Duncan and Beaver bet she will not get in.

Casey, Luke and Sean bet she will because she is very striking. Dick waits and bets against Logan.

The footage shows Sadie commenting after her interview "I'm not really worried. I think I have something no other girl here does. I'm not sure what it is but it's something."

Beaver, Logan, Duncan and Casey snort with laughter. The other guys don't see what is so funny. Dick scowls at Logan and continues to sulk in the corner.

The next girl is striking. "Macy' 21 from Washington strides into the room confidently. She has long black hair, pale skin and very bright blue eyes. Logan can see why she is in the contest. Her looks are very striking. You would notice her in a crowded room. She smiles at the judges. They ask her about what she does for a living (her father is paying for her pre law degree and she hates it so has been working part time to pay for a fashion course). When the judges ask her to list designers that inspire her, instead of listing the usual suspects (Dior, Valentino, Armani) she lists Jason Wu, Michael Kors, Lela Rose, Rose Dell and Marchesa. The judges are impressed and so is Logan.

Lynn had just been raving about the Rose Dell dress she had bought for a party. She was so proud that she was one of the first celebrities to be dressed by this designer and that the dress got her onto the best dressed list, the first time in ages.

Macy looks hot in her swimsuit and is given a 9 by the guys.

The next interview keeps all the boys silent. It is Veronica and all of them shift uncomfortably in their seats. Logan stares at the screen in amazement. Veronica struts (yes struts, it reminds Logan of Lilly) into the room and stares at the judges. Logan has never seen her in that dress, but he admits to himself that she looks good. Too good. He grabs a cushion and rests it in his lap as he watches her interview.

"Veronica, can you tell us why you joined the competition?" Miranda asked.

"My best friend Lilly convinced me to. Well, she put my application in for me and then she made me promise that if we got in I would do it." Veronica's voice halted. The camera pans to her face as a tear slips down her cheek. "Lilly was killed a few months ago."

"Do you miss her?" Asked Pauly.

"_Nah, she doesn't miss her best friend. What sort of question is that?"_ Logan thinks and Casey says out loud.

"Yes I do. She was the type of person who just embraced life. She always seemed to be moving and she could make the most tedious thing fun. The last time I saw her was at our pep squad's car wash. Lilly was bubbling all over." Veronica explains, a slight smile on her face as she remembers Lilly. "It hurts that I am doing this without her, but it hurts more that we will never do anything with her again." Her face is now filled with regret and sadness. Logan feels his throat tightening and his eyes getting moist. He knows exactly how Veronica is feeling.

"I have heard a few things about you. They don't paint you in a positive light. Do you want to comment?" Pauly asks, a slight sneer on his face.

Veronica freezes for a couple of seconds. So do the guys. The rumours have spread there?

"Madison is there." Groans Luke.

"Look, everyone, even if they had never met me, or Lilly, suddenly hates me and have made sure rumours are made and repeated. It still surprises me how people just believe and repeat those rumours without question. But I have learnt that as long as I don't let it bother me, they can't hurt."

Miranda lifts an eyebrow. "Does it bother you?"she asks.

"I would love to say no, but sometimes, from someone who I used to care about, they hit a nerve and yes, it does bother me and it hurts. But hey, no one has died from the 'slut sneeze' recently, have they?" Veronica smiles at the camera.

Pauly and Jake laugh. The boys don't. They are all feeling very sheepish. Even though no one outside of Neptune is going to know it is them who have created and spread rumours about her, the way she just handled it makes them feel very low. They can tell that her attitude will win her fans.

Miranda smiles brilliantly at Veronica. "You haven't had a good year, but I can see a fighter in you. If you keep up that determination, I can see you going far in this competition."

"But do you still want to do this? Are you just doing this to fulfil a promise to your friend? If you get in will you be taking a spot from a girl who may want it more?" Jake asks.

"I want this." She answers. "I want to eventually become a photographer. Being in this contest will help me with learning what poses, for example, will best show a piece of fashion to advantage.

Jake nods slightly and asks her "Can you name a few fashion photographers?"

"Steven Meisel, Annie Leibovitz, Steven Klein and Mario Testino are some of my favourites." Veronica rattles off.

Logan is impressed. She definitely sounds like she knows what she is talking about. When she was part of the Fab 4 she always had a camera in her hands, but he never thought she was serious about it. Lilly used to call her paparazzi, but she was always a willing model.

Can we see you in your swimsuit?" Pauly asks.

Logan sits up straighter and makes sure the cushion is in place. He wants to shut his eyes but he can't stop watching. Veronica walks in with a sultry stride. Logan feels a tightening in his groin. Her bikini is not as risqué as something Lilly would have worn, but is skimpier than what he is used to seeing Veronica in.

"Whoa! Where has she been hiding that body? She is smoking." Dick says.

The other guys agree, but Logan and Duncan are silent.

Dick stares at Logan defensively. "I give her a 9." He is obviously still annoyed about Madison.

Logan agrees with a nod before he realises what he has done.

Dick stares at him with amazement, but no one else was looking at Logan. Dick raises his eyebrows and looks at him calculating before turning to the rest of the guys.

"But Logan probably thinks she is a, what, 5?"

The other guys say they agree with what Logan says, but Logan can tell they think she is hotter than a 5. He wishes that they would make up their own minds. He knows if they are confronted by Veronica for their treatment of her, they will all make him be the bad guy, never thinking about how they had the choice to not follow his lead. She had been their friend too, and thinking back on it, none of them had voiced any concerns about what they were doing to Veronica.

The new footage on the show captures his attention. It is of the girls sitting next to a pool. Veronica is there, and the other girls look happy to see her there. He recognises Krystal, Macy and the girl who was switched at birth with Madison. The others are giggling with anticipation.

"Where is my tropical drink with the paper umbrella I was promised?" Veronica asks the girls.

The girls share a sneaky grin. "We didn't want to have you miss out." One of the other girls explains, waving her hand in the air. Instantly a guy in black moves over to the girls. He is older than any of the guys sitting in the room and instantly, all of them hate him on sight. He is extremely muscular (Luke wonders if the steroids will make him look that good) and has the typical generic looks that would make most of the girls at school swoon.

"Yes, Miss?" He asks politely. "Hey Mark, this is my friend Veronica. She would like a drink." The girl turns and asks Veronica, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"Yes, she looks hot. Can I bring you a drink?" he asks flirtatiously, looking Veronica up and down.

Logan clenches his jaw in anger.

"Can I get something pink with a little paper umbrella please?" She asks. Logan is not surprised when he not so subtly checks her out again, but is surprised at the venomous feelings it raises in him.

"I have just a thing for such a pretty woman," Mark flirts with Veronica.

As he moves away, Macy calls out to him. "She is only 16, so it better not be alcoholic."

"You are only 16?" he asks amazedly.

The guys can't help but chuckle at the shocked expression on his face.

"Yep, so stop trying to catch flies with your mouth," Luke comments. He is a bit annoyed that this guy is flirting with Veronica. She was Duncan's ex. It wasn't right.

"OMG! Veronica, he was so checking you out until he found out you were only 16." The girls make Veronica blush more, so much that when the footage shows Mark coming back with her drink, she doesn't make eye contact and has turned an attractive shade of pink. It reminds Logan of the blushes he and Lilly used to take great delight in producing.

"Yeah, he has flirted with all of us this afternoon. Nice eye candy but I don't think he is the smartest book on the shelf", Mac says, grinning at Veronica. "We thought you shouldn't miss out."

"Gee thanks. Now do you think he is a wannabe actor or a wannabe model like us?" Veronica asks sarcastically. This starts an involved debate between the girls.

The guys laugh. "Wannabe actor," Sean states.

"Nah, he didn't come back and do the overdone expression of shock. Wannabe model." Logan answers distractively, still trying to work out why he really hates Mark. It wasn't like he liked Veronica or anything. He just didn't want her flaunting any one in front of Duncan. He takes a quick look at Duncan. He has his now usual blank expression on his face. Logan sighs. Nothing is getting through to Zombie Duncan now.

If Logan had had a better look, he would have noticed that Duncan's fists were so tightly clenched they had turned white.

The boys watch another group of girls in the competition dancing at the resort's night club in silence.

**Voice over: **_The girls have fun getting to know each other, but tomorrow will bring the first cut. Who will make it closer to achieving their dreams of becoming America's newest Supermodel and who will be going home heartbroken? Find out after the break._

During the break, Duncan remains seated silently staring at the TV. Dick avoids Logan's eye contact and stays away from him. Beaver talks and talks about nothing trying to disperse the tension and the others order pizzas. Logan feels like he should check how Duncan is feeling about Veronica being on the show, but he doesn't know how to approach it, so he says nothing. As the show returns from the break, he hands Duncan a drink instead.

Pauly is on the screen. "Girls, it is time for the first cut. The girls who did not make it into the next stage of the contest will have to pack immediately and will be sent home. This does not mean they are not beautiful, it just means they do not have what we are looking for this year. The girls who made it through still have a lot of work to do." The camera pans across the faces of the girls. The expressions range from hopeful, confident, nervous and terrified.

"In the room next to this one, we have set up 30 dressing tables. The girls who have made it to the next stage will find a photo of themselves taped to the mirror." He pauses.

"OK, ready steady, GO!" He quickly moves out of the way as a barrage of girls run towards the doors. It is chaos. The guys laugh at the scenes of girls falling over, running into each other, most with a look of utter panic on their faces.

The dressing tables are plain tables with white covers on them and then a mirror with lights all around it placed on top. One girl is so excited to see her picture taped on it she knocks the mirror off the table. The guys chuckle.

The show shows a quick montage of the pictures of the girls who get in. None of the guys comment on the fact that Veronica's picture is shown.

The footage changes to some of the girls who didn't get in. Many of them are crying hysterically, mascara running down their faces. Others are saying to the camera "I'll be back." Others are stomping their feet in anger. The camera focuses on one of these girls. A very angry Madison.

"I didn't get in? I have modelled already. I have appeared in three commercials. I am Logan Echolls girlfriend! I have had lots of dinners with Aaron Echolls and HE thinks I am attractive! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE NOT TO CHOOSE ME?" Her voice reaches screaming pitch, her face is red and her scowl shows exactly why she wasn't picked. She looks decidedly unattractive.

The next part shows girls who got in hugging crying girls who didn't get in. Logan is not surprised to see footage of Veronica comforting another.

Finally the girls who got in are shown celebrating, including Veronica and her friends smiling and dancing around in a circle.

"Whoa. Madison was ANGRY." Luke comments.

Dick approaches Logan. "Hey, umm, look I'm sorry for accusing you of sleeping with Madison. I mean, you saw her, she reckons she has had dinners with your Dad. You haven't taken girls home for dinner since Lil... for ages. And your Dad has been filming in London for the last few months. So, ahh, I'm sorry for accusing you for sleeping with Madison. She is obviously delusional."

"Or thought that being Logan Echolls' girlfriend would get her into the competition. Guess she was wrong," adds Beaver.

"Hey, that's OK. But I hope you are not going to let her get away with this?" Logan answers.

"Huh?" Dick grunts.

"Well, she isn't a very good girlfriend. Hell, she forgot your name! She called you Logan." Casey joins in, causing the guys to laugh.

"Well she isn't very smart," Beaver adds.

"Yeah..." Dick says unconvinced.

"Mate, she told the whole of America she is dating me. She just publically humiliated you. You can't take her back." Logan says.

"Shhh. It's back on." Dick says, turning back to the TV but Logan can tell his mind is still ticking over, pondering.

On screen the remaining girls are travelling to their first photo shoot. They show the bus pull up at the beach where Jake is waiting in the car park.

**Voice over of Miranda**: _Jake is our shoot director. He will be coaching the girls through all their photo shoots, providing guidance and ideas_.

The girls exit the bus smiling in anticipation.

"Hello girls. Congratulations on making it so far. You were chosen because you showed promise in your runway walk, you wore your swimsuits confidently and your answers to your interview questions showed that you are all interesting people. Now it is time to see if you can convey all of that into a photograph. Today you will have 25 frames to get a picture which will capture our attention and show off an outfit perfectly." Jake explains.

The girls are shown running over the sand to some tents set up for wardrobe and makeup. The next few scenes show the girls getting ready. Logan leans forward in anticipation and dread that Veronica will be one of the girls shown in her underwear but she isn't. He leans back, unsure if he is relieved or disappointed.

He has to laugh at the scenes shown of some girls arguing with the makeup artists and hairdressers about how they are should do made up. His mother had always told him that a kind and friendly word to these people was more beneficial than arguing with them. He remembers when he was younger his mother often used them to 'mind' him when he was on set. One of them, Claire, would spend the time when she was not needed, teaching him how to do 'special effects' make up. To this day, his Halloween costumes are the best because of his makeup skills. Claire is still the makeup artist his mother uses before every premier.

The girls are photographed at the water's edge. The guys are not too interested in the dresses, but it is interesting how different the girl's poses are. They show a little bit of the girls posing in front of the camera, and then they show the best photograph. Some look stiff and awkward, others look sultry and sexy and some look playful.

All the guys look on with more interest when Veronica is shown. She holds her dress out to the side and looks playful but shy. She looks innocent and it reminds Logan of the 'old' Veronica. She is then shown laughing and twirling. This is the photo they show. She looks like she is having fun, happier than any of them have seen her since Lilly died. Logan feels a small amount of guilt, before he brushes it away.

The girls who have finished their shoots are able to relax on the beach. Most of them are sun bathing but a few are building sand castles.

The next few scenes are boring in relation to anything really happening. They are filler shots of the girls having fun together. One of them all dressed up at dinner, others of them by the pool, some of them in their rooms in their pyjamas.

**Voice over of Miranda**: _While the girls relax, the Judges' work has just started. They now need to decide which of the 30 girls will make it into the Top 12._

The footage changes to scenes of the Judges sitting at a table with 30 photos spread out in front of them.

"Ok, the competition has been really strong, but we need to choose the girls who will make our Top 12. They don't have to be the best runway walker, or have taken the best photo, but I want them to have shown promise, or that they have learnt something in the competition." Miranda tells Pauly and Jake.

They are shown picking up photos and commenting on the girls. The scene ends with Miranda looking at the other two "Well, we have made our decision. Now I need to go tell the girls."

The show goes to an ad break.

The guys start discussing who will get in. All of them agree that Sandy will get in. Duncan thinks Parker will while Beaver wants Mac to make it. No one mentions Veronica, but Luke, Casey and Beaver are hoping she will get in, while Duncan, Dick and Sean are hoping she doesn't. Logan doesn't know if he wants her to get in. If she gets in he won't see her around Neptune, but will see her on the show each week. Yeah, he could just not watch it, but he knows he will need to see what she is doing.

The show comes back on and shows the girls standing very nervously together. Some are holding hands with the girl next to her. Veronica is standing at the front of the group to the side. Many of the girls have pleading looks on their faces.

"The other Judges and I have been very impressed with the standard of potential Supermodels who have competed in this competition. We never thought it would be so difficult to pick a Top 12. To the girls who don't make it, do not think it is because you are not beautiful. You are all beautiful, inspiring girls and I am sure this is not the last time we are going to see you." Miranda tells the girls.

"To the girls who make it in, you were chosen as you showed the most promise. We believe you show natural talent and think you take directions and will learn quickly. I will now announce the girls who will be continuing on with the hope of becoming America's Newest Supermodel."

The camera pans across the girl's faces again.

"The first person who made it into our Top 12 is..."Miranda pauses for dramatic effect.

"Abrianna." The girl squeals with absolute delight, tears running down her face as she walks over to a spot on the side of the screen.

"I won't let you down, Miranda," she tells her. Miranda just smiles at her.

"The second girl in the house is...Sadie." Miranda announces.

A red haired girl squeals and struts over to where Abrianna is standing. The two girls hug each other.

"Yeah, hug each other now, you will be stabbing each other in the back soon enough." Dick comments, watching the screen closely.

"Mac." Miranda calls out.

Mac is grabbed in total shock at being picked. Krystal has to push her forwards. The boys laugh, especially when both Sadie and Abrianna try and hug her. Mac just stands there awkwardly, stiff as a pole. You can tell that she doesn't like being hugged.

"Ali Lee".

Ali Lee is the Asian girl and she just smiles shyly. The next scene shows the girls face again. Some have already started crying!

"The next girl through is... Jackie!" Miranda states.

She pumps her fist in the air. "Yes!" She walks over and stands next to Abrianna.

"And...Carmen."

They are halfway through and Veronica hasn't been called. Logan wonders if the Judges know what they are doing. Veronica is hot! He shakes his head at the thought. No, he is training himself to not notice that. She is the traitor.

"We are half way through out Top 12. The next girl in is... Mallory!" Miranda says, smiling at the girls.

"Yes!" Dick yells, pumping his fist in the air. The others look at him. "Hey she could get with any of those other girls."

"They won't be showing it though. Not in this time slot." Casey answers.

Dick falls back in disappointment. He turns his attention back to the screen.

Jazmin has just been called and has hugged everyone in sight, including Miranda.

"Wouldn't mind being hugged by her," Sean leers.

The guys agree. The next girl chosen is Parker. She bursts into tears and keeps crying, mascara dripping down her cheeks. Logan can't believe it. She got in and she is crying more than the girls who are still standing there waiting to be picked.

The next girl chosen startles the boys. "Veronica!"

"Yes!" yells Luke. The others stare at him in shock. He just grins sheepishly.

She looks as startled as they feel. The shock is written all over her face and then she grins and skips over to where the other girls are waiting. Three of the girls give her a hug.

They are shown another shot of the girls waiting. Most of the girls are now crying or holding back tears.

"Hey, Sandy is still there." Beaver points out in confusion.

"And Macy, and Krystal." Casey adds. The boys look at each other in confusion. These girls scored the most in their rankings.

Macy is called next and she plays it cool, grinning calmly.

"And the twelfth girl is..."

The show goes to a break. The boys throw whatever they can at the TV.

"Why do they do that?" groans Dick. "Just tell us already!"

"They are trying to increase the tension and anticipation." Explains Logan calmly.

"They increase the annoyance factor instead."

"Well, who do you think, Krystal or Sandy or another girl?" Beaver asks.

Dick, Casey and Luke are for Sandy, while Duncan, Sean and Logan choose Krystal.

"These are the girls they have shown the most of; it has to be one of them." Luke reasons.

The show returns and shows that most of the girls are now openly crying and all are looking at all have pleading expressions.

"And the twelfth girl is... Sandy!"

Dick, Casey and Luke high five each other.

The guys watch as a few of girls fall to the floor and start to wail. One girl is stamping her feet in anger. The rest of them are crying. The camera focuses on Krystal who is trying to smile, but is obviously devastated.

The camera focuses back on Miranda. "Girls, in this industry, heartbreak can happen quickly, but fortunes can change in the blink of an eye. Because we had such a strong group of talented girls for this contest, we decided that we couldn't just have twelve girls in the contest. One more girl impressed us so much we had to include her in the Top 12, which has now become the Top 13." Miranda announces.

The footage focuses back on the girls. They stand still and look at Miranda in hope.

"Ohhhhh." Exclaims Beaver like a girl.

"The thirteenth girl into the contest is... Krystal!"

Krystal's face lights up with absolute joy. She runs over to Veronica and a few other girls and joins them in a group hug.

The rest of the show shows a few girls who didn't make it in stating they will be back, but then shows the Top 13 celebrating.

**Voice over:** _The Top 13 have been chosen. Join us next week as the girls settle into the Model Mansion, participate in their first challenges and face the Judges Panel for the first time as we whittle down the girls until we find 'America's newest Supermodel.'"_

Dick turns the TV off. The guys sit there silently for a moment, lost in their own thoughts.

Beaver is wondering what he can say to impress the other guys in the room.

Sean is thinking about how he could the girls to date him, even without the help of Logan.

Casey is thinking that his grandmother may be interested in watching the show from her hospital bed as she will like cheering for the girl who goes to school with her grandson.

Luke is thinking that he really wants Veronica to win. If she does, maybe the other will stop their vendetta against her without him having to step in.

Duncan is thinking that he would love to have seen Veronica in that bikini when they were dating and then berating himself for having really wrong thoughts about his sister.

What Dick is thinking is gross, so we won't go there.

Logan is trying not to think. Veronica betrayed him by choosing her Father over the Fab Four. He won't think about the thrill she gives him when she fights back after one of his barbed comments. Or how sexy she walks when she has just bested him in a battle of wits. Or how good she looked in that bikini. No. He is not attracted to Veronica Mars.

"_I think you are, Lovah_." Lilly's voice trills in his head.

He shakes his head to get rid of his thoughts.

"Who wants another drink?" He asks. Time to get completely wasted and pass out. Then he won't be plagued by Lilly's voice or Veronica's face.

* * *

**Please Review! Especially if you have an idea for how Logan and Dick can get revenge on Madison! ****Or if you want to put in your vote for who will be the first model out. Or if you just want to let me know how I can make this story better, please leave a review. **

**Love, Shel**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I know this chapter is a long time coming. I apologise to all my readers, especially the ones who review. Your reviews make my day!**

**I returned to work to find that an incident that I thought had been handled by HR is still ongoing. Lets just say, bullies can be all ages and sexes. I guess this means that I now know how Veronica feels and I have decided that like Veronica, I will use this to get stronger. But it made me come home from work not in the mood to write.**

**On another note, the Logan chapter didn't get many reviews. Does this mean you didn't like it? Should I leave these chapters out? It was hard for me to think like a guy but I didn't think I was too bad. This chapter has no Logan and is setting up the scene for future chapters but I am a bit worried that I need to change my format. My plan was to see what Veronica sees, hears while in the contest and then see Logan's point of view of what the producers etc. show on television. Let me know what you think.**

* * *

**Before Week 1.**

Veronica stared into her wardrobe and sighed.

She had no idea what to pack. She didn't have many clothes left after demolishing her wardrobe of pastel items after Shelly's party. The clothes she had thought 'cool' enough for the contest, she had worn during the selection of the Top 13.

"What's wrong sweetie? Keith asked as he entered her room carrying two suitcases.

"I have nothing to pack! So you can return those suitcases to Cliff. What am I supposed to pack anyway?" She asked frantically, running her hands through her hair in panic.

"Well, I don't know anything about fashion, but this might help you with filling these suitcases." Keith answered as he handed Veronica an envelope.

She opened it and her eyes widened in amazement. "Dad, this is too much. Where did you get it?" She asked as she pulled out the wad of green notes.

"Well, I caught those two bail jumpers while you were away last week. And since I will be saving a lot more money over the next few weeks, not having to spend a fortune on Luigi's Lasagne or on ice cream for you, I thought you could use it on whatever you will need over the next few weeks." He smiles at her eagerly.

Veronica smiles at her Dad and throws her arms around him. "Thanks Dad."

"No worries, but while you are out shopping, you better drop into Luigi's and make sure they know you are leaving town for a few weeks. I wouldn't want them going out of business because they order enough food to still feed you."

"Can we have lasagne for my farewell dinner?"

"Some, honey, I'll pick some up on my way home. I'll let them know that their 'Garfield' is going out of time."

Veronica stuck her tongue out at him.

He kisses her on the head and leaves her room. "I'll be back at 6."

Veronica smiles at his retreating form, and then looks back into the envelope. She does a little happy dance. She knows that Lilly would not have been happy with the amount, but it is more money than Veronica has ever been given.

"_Come on Dorkus! Let's go shopping_!" Lilly's voice rings in her ears.

Veronica's happy mood only lasts a short time. Once she is standing in the shopping district of Neptune, she suddenly feels inadequate. She has no idea of what she will need. She turns around to head home and she bumps into another shopper, making them drop all their shopping bags.

"Oh, I am so sorry," Veronica apologises, bending down to help pick the bags up. The bags are from some of the high end boutiques nearby. Veronica cringes, hoping the expensive Manolo Blahnik heels which enter her eyesight are not owned by Celeste Kane. She stands up fully, expecting a barrage of abuse.

"That's OK Veronica. I haven't seen you in awhile, what have you been up to?" Lynn Echolls' soft voice asks her. She smiles kindly at Veronica.

Veronica stands still, wondering how to answer Lynn. She doesn't think 'Your son now hates me and has gone out of his way to make my life miserable so I would prefer to poke my eyes out than spend any more time with him than I have to' is an appropriate answer.

"Ummm, I entered a modelling contest and made it into the Top 13 so I have been busy with that." She ends up answering.

"Oh, how exciting," Lynn gushed. "Is this that Supermodel Show? I have seen it advertised. It is on later this week. I will definitely be watching it now I know you will be on it."

Veronica wishes Lynn's son took after her more.

"Thanks. I am just here to buy some new clothes to take with me." She tells her.

"Can I help? I love shopping." She cries.

Veronica really doesn't want to say yes, but the hopeful and pleading look on Lynn makes her say yes.

Lynn's face lights up in joy. "Ok, so the main things you will need are well fitting jeans and some plain shirts that emphasize your figure but don't take the attention off your face. These will be good for going to challenges and if you dress it up with a scarf or some bright beads it will be good for the judging panel. You will also need a few skirts and dresses." She says all business like. She then squeals in excitement, "This is going to be so much fun!"

Lynn links her arm with Veronica and starts babbling about this great store she knows of that will be perfect. Veronica starts to have doubts. She can't afford too much. She tensed as Lynn approaches a really expensive looking boutique but Lynn surprises her and keeps walking, taking her down a small lane to a small store. Veronica had still freaked out as the dress in the window was gorgeous and looked very expensive. As they walked in, Lynn called out to the sales assistants.

"Brenda and Elizabeth, I have a very special customer for you."

Brenda is the older of the two women greets Lynn with a kiss on the cheek and the two of them start talking. Veronica walks over to the rack of dresses with trepidation wondering how she would tell Lynn she couldn't afford anything in this shop. She cranes her head, trying to read the price tags when the other sales assistant flips it over for her.

Veronica feels embarrassed and feels her face getting warm.

"Have a look, you will be surprised." The sale assistant says.

Veronica focuses her eyes and then gasps.

The price is actually reasonable. She wouldn't be able to shop here every day, but for outfits for special events it is in her price range.

"Lynn found us by accident. She has dresses made for her especially by our designers but the rest is made for the public." Elizabeth explains.

"Now, Lynn has explained you are going to be a model," Brenda interrupts. "I am sure we have just what you need."

In a couple of hours, Veronica was exhausted. Brenda and Elizabeth were ringing up her purchases at the till. She had chosen well fitting jeans, tailored black pants and a grey pair of high waisted pants which Lynn said made her look taller. Lynn had checked, and they all agreed that Veronica had enough plain coloured shirts and singlet tops for the contest. The other two purchases were gorgeous dresses. Veronica had the little black dress and pink dress she had worn, but Lynn suggested she buy one more cocktail dress and an everyday dress. Veronica had tried on every dress in the store, but all of them were unanimous with the two she had picked.

The everyday dress (Veronica can't imagine wearing it to school, but she just nods when Lynn suggests it) is a deep blue (Lynn gushed about how it bought out her eyes) and was form fitting at the top but flared out at the bottom.

The cocktail dress definitely would have gotten Lilly's approval. While it wasn't satin, and it didn't show heaps of cleavage, it was red lace, short and enhanced the curves she did have.

Veronica handed over her money and grabbed her shopping bags. She couldn't help the big grin that covered her face. She was feeling a lot more confident about the contest now.

Lynn couldn't help grinning back. "That was so much fun! I've always wanted a girl to take shopping." Her phone rings and she checks the screen. Her face falls. "Oh, this is a business call in regards to my next business venture. I am going to have to leave you, and I so wanted to have a coffee with you. But we will have to have a raincheck." She answers the phone. "Hi Caroline, I just need to say goodbye to a friend. Can you hold a minute?"

She moves the phone from her ear and wraps her arms around Veronica in a hug. "Good luck sweetie. I am sure you will do well. Just remember Logan and I when you are a famous Supermodel."

Veronica hugs her back. "Thanks for all your help choosing clothes."

Lynn pulls away and as Veronica turns to leave, she hears Lynn apologising into her phone, "Sorry for that, we have had a fun time shopping for clothes for the modelling contest she is participating in. Poor girl, she was my son's girlfriend's best friend... yes the one that was murdered... and her mother also decided that was a good time to leave her."

Veronica keeps walking quickly, feeling hurt. She doesn't hear Lynn's next comment. "Yes, Veronica Mars. How do you know her?"

Veronica heads home with her new clothes trying not to dwell on the fact that she doesn't have her Mum or Lilly to help her with the rest of her packing.

When she arrives home she takes Back Up for a long walk on the beach and then starts packing Cliff's suitcases. She is surprised at how much she actually fills them up. She leaves her new purchases out so she can show her Dad.

Just after 6 her Dad walks through the door with a couple of bags. He has a mountain of food from Luigi's – more than even Veronica could possibly eat!

The two of them sat down at the kitchen bench and ate their weight in Italian food.

Later the two of them were spread out on the couch, stomachs bloated and full, watching movies that they had seen many times before. They don't talk but their closeness would be apparent to anyone peering in the window. Veronica felt content and safe.

Keith had offered to take her out for dinner, but she wanted to spend her last night in Neptune as just the two of them. She was worried and sad that she had to leave her Dad for so long. This would be the longest she had ever been away from him. And she was leaving him alone. Cliff had promised that he would keep an eye on him, but Veronica knew this would mean her Dad was going to looking after Cliff more. Her Dad had tried to hide it from her, but a lot of the late night calls were from Cliff, needing Keith to get him out of a 'situation'.

After awhile, when she could walk, she gave her Dad a runway show, showing him her new clothes. She made him sit at the end of the kitchen bench, near the door and she strutted down the hallway.

Keith was in two minds about it all. He was really proud that Veronica had been chosen. It proved that his daughter was as beautiful as he had always thought and was a way for her to earn money to go to college. But on the other hand, boys, and teenage boys at that, would be watching his little girl model skimpy clothes. He really wanted to lock her in her room and stand guard with a shot gun until she was at least 30. Unfortunately his little girl was as stubborn as him so he knew this wasn't an option. As she modelled her new clothes for him, he did admit to himself that she was good. He wasn't sure he wanted Veronica to be a model, but it was safer than her wanting to be a cop, like she had wanted to be as a child. Her friendship with Lilly had changed her ambitions, but since Lilly's death, he felt she was leaning towards that option again. So a career as a model (at least part time to pay for college) was a better alternative for now. Keith sat there and clapped enthusiastically for all the outfits, even the red dress which he thought was too tight.

Veronica was pleased. Her Dad seemed OK, with this decision. She was still not sure if she wanted to be in the contest. She didn't think she was pretty enough, but she had already decided to just try her best. She was looking forward to talking to the photographers she would meet and of course, she couldn't wait to see her new friends again.

After the 'runway show', Veronica packed the last few things into her suitcases and went back to the lounge to watch the last movie. It was here she spent her last night at home, curled up against her Dad, safe and secure, with her head on his shoulder while she slept and Back Up curled up at her feet.

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A/N: Please review! Even if its simply :) or :(


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Big thanks to my reviewers. Your comments make my day. To let all of you know, I had such a good response after the last chapter that I will be sticking to my original plan of showing Veronica's thoughts on being on the show and Logan's thoughts while watching the show. **

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**Day 1**

Veronica tried to get the kinks out of her neck as the car drove further into Los Angeles. She was regretting falling asleep on her Dad on the lounge now. She was so stiff and sore. The car ride from Neptune to L.A. had not helped.

The car had turned up to pick her up at 8am in the morning. She wasn't sure if she was happy that the driver was rude and impatient, or annoyed. She was happy because it meant that her and Keith hadn't had time to get teary about leaving each other for the next few weeks, but unhappy because it meant that her father had only been able to pull her into a hug, kiss the top of her head and remind her to "play nicely with the other girls". The driver had not replied to any of her questions or small talk, instead had turned up the radio to drown out her voice. Veronica had taken the hint and had spent the rest of the trip in silence, looking out of the window as the driver drove at high speed.

"_Gosh, I am bored_." Lilly complained. Veronica ignores her.

As the miles to Los Angeles started to count down on the signs they passed, Veronica started to get nervous. Would her new friends still want to talk to her? She kept imagining walking in to the mansion and having Mac, Macy and Krystal, turn their backs on her and talk behind their hands. Was it going to be just like going back to school after her Dad lost his job?

"_I never stopped talking to you."_ Lilly reminded her. "_Real friends are your friends forever_."

The car pulled up at a television studio and drove past the security gate. After taking numerous turns it parked beside a large hanger like building. The driver didn't say anything to Veronica, just got out, moved to the trunk and pulled her suitcases out. Veronica decided that this must be her destination, so grabbed her handbag and got out. She stood on the pavement in the morning sun, wishing she knew what was going on. There was no one else in sight.

The car engine starting again startled her. She whipped her head around to see the driver drive off with a roar of the engine. She looked around for a sign of what to do next. All she could see was 3 other large factory like studios and one small brick building. She wondered if this was a prank. She whirled around expecting Logan and Dick to come out and yell "You have been punked!"

When that didn't happen, she sighed and heaved her suitcases up and started towards the brick building. She wondered what was going on. Where was the 'Model Mansion'?

When she reached the building she noticed the lettering across the door 'G&CC Productions'. With more confidence she pushed the door open. She knew G&CC Productions was the name of Caroline Conner's production company. When she walked in she entered a scene of bedlam. Men and women were running around, grabbing papers off photocopiers, stapling them together and affixing them to clip boards. A group of people in one corner are trying to untangle a mess of cables.

"Can I help you?" A tall skinny woman asks Veronica. She seems slightly familiar.

"Ummm, I am Veronica Mars, the driver left me here?" Veronica answers nervously.

"Oh, that would be Bruno." The woman huffed. "Trust him to speed and drop a girl off early. Well Veronica, the other girls are not due for another 20 minutes at least. You will then be all travelling to the mansion together. I can get you a coffee will you wait?" As she said this, Veronica recognised her. It was the woman who she had met in front of the elevator on the way to the gym.

"That would be wonderful..?" she trails off as she racks her brains, trying to remember her name.

"Jessica. They didn't bother introducing us before, but I will be one of the chaperones for you girls." Jessica says as she leads Veronica to a small room which contains a battered fridge, a long table surrounded with some plastic chairs and a coffee machine that splurts and splutters as Jessica starts brewing.

Veronica smiles as Jessica hands her a cup of coffee.

"Thanks. I need this. So we have more than one Chaperone?"

"Yes, there are four of us who will be in the house and with you at all challenges. Because there are so many of you who are under age, there will be at least two of us working each shift. I will be working with Ellie, Alex and Beth." Jessica settles into one of the horrible plastic orange chairs. She is quite happy to have the excuse to escape the bedlam outside, and relinquishes the chance to have a good old gossip. She waits until Veronica has sat down opposite her.

"Beth has been chaperoning kids on the sets of movies and T.V shows for over 40 years. She is the one who will make sure you eat, demand that you clean up after yourself, make sure you make curfew and make sure you prepare for all challenges. She doesn't like people who expect that in this industry, both modelling or television, they don't have to work hard, that things should just be handed to them." Jessica notices that Veronica looks worried. "She is not mean or anything. She will be like your mother reminding you to go to bed early because you have a big day, and then not being sympathetic if you ignore her advice and are tired the next day."

Veronica laughs, but inside she is sad. It had been awhile since her mother had done something like that.

"Ellie is really into all that new age stuff. So expect lots of herbal teas, crystals and astrology. But her heart is in the right place. If your muscles are aching from a big day, I suggest you go to her. Her massage oils, which she makes herself, are incredible. She also has a whole lot of remedies if you react to any of the makeup used during the show."

Veronica stores this information as important.

"Alex is the one who I suggest you go to when you are having a bad day. Most people will assume because of the way Beth looks, that she would be the one, but Alex is the 'comforter'. She has a background in counselling and loves to comfort people. She will be the chaperone who will listen for hours to any girl who is upset. She carries tissues and chocolate ready to comfort."

"And who are you?" Veronica asks with a cheeky grin.

Jessica laughs. "I am the one who is not really a chaperone. I am usually deciding what footage is going to be used. The other chaperone quit last night and Caroline wants someone who she trusts to look after you and the other girls."

Veronica lifts one eyebrow. "Should we be worried?"

"It was between me and Juanita." Jessica answers with a grimace.

Veronica just stares at Jessica in horror as she tries to imagine having Juanita around her all the time.

Jessica laughs. "So you are not a fan either. She..."

A guy sticks his head around the door, interrupting. "Jessica, another girl has arrived." He heads off without waiting for an answer.

Jessica sighs. "Come on Veronica, now the fun starts." She leads Veronica out of the room. Veronica starts to get nervous, but seeing the similarly nervous face of Mac makes her smile.

"Veronica! I am so glad to see you. I am so nervous."

"Hi Mac, so am I." Veronica goes to hug her but Mac pulls away awkwardly. Veronica blushes in embarrassment.

"Welcome Mac, I am Jessica, one of your chaperones for the competition. The other girls have now been collected from the airport and are on their way here. We expect them in about 10 minutes and then we will be off to the house." Jessica says.

Mac spends the 10 minutes wait detailing Madison's temper tantrum at Mac making it into the Top 13. Veronica can't help but giggle at the images Mac describes. She can picture Madison's face going red and blotchy as she stamps her feet and demands that Mac pull out of the contest, a demand that neither the Sinclair or Mackenzie families agree with. They had decided that while Mac was competing in the contest over the summer, Madison needed to learn a few lessons and was therefore going to spend the summer working at a fast food joint on the outskirts of San Diego.

"The outfit is a very unflattering sack like dress, mustard yellow in colour with a bright red apron over the top." Mac describes. As Veronica continues to giggle, holding her stomach in pain, Mac continues, "But my favourite thing is the hat which looks like a cup of fries." This causes Veronica to laugh out loud, and she feels tears form in her eyes.

"_Oh, you need to get a photo of that outfit Veronica Mars. Imagine the revenge you can get with that photo_." Lilly cackles like a witch.

"Veronica! Mac!" Krystal runs into the building excitedly and grabs Veronica into a hug. Mac moves behind Veronica, trying to get out of reach of Krystal's arms, but it is a losing battle. The rest of the girls have followed Krystal inside and it is a hug fest. Veronica is pulled into hugs by girls she has never said two words to. She is relieved when Jessica captures their attention.

"Girls, welcome to the competition. My name is Jessica and I will be one of 4 chaperones who will be looking after you for the duration of the contest. In a minute you will be travelling to the Model Mansion where you will be staying. However, I would like to go through a few rules we have for the contest. Any girl who is underage and is found to be intoxicated will immediately be removed from the contest. The use of non-prescription drugs will also be a reason to expel you from the contest. Any violence against someone else, stealing others property and inappropriate relationships with a member of the crew will also cause you to leave the competition prematurely. Do you have any questions?" Jessica stares at them all sternly.

"Huh?" Veronica hears whispered behind her.

"Basically, don't drink if you're not 21, don't do drugs, don't hit someone, don't steal and don't fall in love with someone on a crew." Macy whispers back.

"OHHHH. OK." Veronica knows without looking that Macy is rolling her eyes.

"OK ladies, time to go to the Model Mansion."

Most of the girls squeal as they head out the door. Veronica follows them slightly more sedately, but still very excited. The car waiting for them was a bright pink stretch hummer. The girls squealed even louder. "It's like we are already supermodels" They piled in and in an instant they were off. Veronica looked around and was surprised to see Gwen and Lucy squeezed in the corner near the driver's end filming. She guessed she should get used to being filmed at all moments. She starts to feel nervous. For the first time she starts to understand that the next few weeks will be televised to the whole of America. She looks around the hummer. Most of the girls there just look excited, but a few, Mac and Ali Lee look as nervous as Veronica feels.

Macy and Jackie are leaning back, acting like they travel in luxury cars every week. Veronica knows that Macy probably does, but she is unsure about Jackie.

Krystal, Abrianna and Sandeep keep randomly squealing with excitement. While the others look excited, these three are looking like all their dreams have come true. Veronica shrugs to herself. They probably have come true for these three.

The hummer pulls up to a large sprawling mansion which reminds Veronica of the Kane house. All straight lines, like someone had decided that adding white boxes on top of each other counted as architecture. Her heart sinks as she stares up at it. If it is anything like the sterile environment of the Kane house she really doesn't want to go in. But of course she has no choice. She walks up the steps with the other girls, well Krystal basically bounds up the steps, and they open the door with excitement and trepidation.

The view that greets them makes them gasp as they walk in. The rooms are large and spacious. The walls are white and the floor is covered in white tiles. The furniture is black, which contrasts with the white walls and floor, and could have made the rooms look sterile and cold, but there are brightly coloured cushions on all the lounges and chairs, and vases of bright happy flowers on all the tables.

It reminds Veronica of the Echolls' house. While Lynn had used the same decorator as Celeste Kane, she had added her own touch, even if it was simply an interesting statue, or a brightly painted contemporary piece of artwork which had converted rooms that could have looked cold and sterile like the Kane's place into warm and interesting. The artwork here on the walls unlike the Echolls place, do not look like Kindergartens spent the afternoon finger painting, but are in fact beautiful pictures of shoes, handbags, lipsticks and colourful jewellery.

It all makes Veronica feel more excited to the fact that she will be spending the next few weeks (if she is lucky) here.

There is a spacious lounge room, but Veronica is interested to see that there is no television set. On the right the lounge room leads into a large kitchen, which opens onto a dining room and another sitting room. The other end of the kitchen opens up on a patio where there is an outdoor table and chairs as well as some lounges. If you follow the patio, it leads down to a pool and Jacuzzi nestled in a beautiful Japanese-styled garden.

The girls are ohing and ahhing at everything. They move back into the house and head to the left of the lounge room. Here are 3 large bedrooms and two large bathrooms. The bathrooms keep to the black and white theme, but the towels are an emerald green in one and royal blue in the other. The rooms all have a theme. The room with a purple feature wall is the 'Handbag room' with the artwork all being pictures of handbags. The red room is the 'Make-up room' with pictures of lipsticks and eye shadow palettes. The yellow room is the 'Shoe room' with different pictures of shoes.

The girls are herded back into the lounge room where Jessica was waiting with their luggage. She was standing with 3 other women and two more camera crews. Veronica instantly knew who the women were.

She guessed that the plumper, grandmother like one was Beth, the blond with the long hair, flower print dress and colourful crystal necklace was Ellie and the tall brunette who's green eyes looked like they were about to drip tears at any moment was Alex. She was really happy when Jessica confirmed this.

"If you need anything, don't be afraid to come to us. Now, it is time for you to choose your beds." Jessica says. Gwen and Lucy move towards the bedroom, as does another camera crew.

"Grab your luggage and ... go!"

Veronica grabs one of her suitcase and runs. She really just wants to get into a room with at least one of her friends. She follows closely behind Macy. Most of the girls head straight to the 'Makeup room' or 'Handbag room' as these two rooms are closer to the bathrooms and are more spacious as they only have four beds in them, but Macy heads straight to the shoe room. Veronica follows closely behind. Macy throws her suitcase on the larger bed and smiles delightfully at the camera crew which is filming them. Veronica chooses the bed nearest the window which has a view out onto the garden. Mac comes rushing into the room and looks relieved to see that there are beds still and Veronica and Macy are there.

"World War Three may have started. There are three suitcases on one of the beds in the Handbag room." She explains. The camera crew head off in excitement.

Macy shrugs and opens up her suitcase and pulls out a teddy bear wearing a pink shirt that has 'MACY' written out in sequins.

"There. The girls who miss out can now not try to take my bed." She says defiantly. She grabs a handful of underwear from her suitcase and starts filling the draws in the bedside table. Veronica and Mac follow her lead and start unpacking as well. They work in silence, shamelessly eavesdropping on the yelling going on next door. Ali Lee slides in quietly.

"What are you doing here Ali Lee?" Mac asks. "I am sure I saw you with a bed in the Handbag room?"

"I thought that if I gave it up, the fighting would stop." Ali Lee says in her quiet voice. She sighs heavily. "But they now are fighting over who should have that one too."

Ali Lee chooses a bed near Mac and starts unpacking.

Veronica is disturbed by a thought. "Who is fighting over the bed?" she asks. When the other three turn towards her she elaborates, "Well, whoever loses will be in here."

The girls look suitable horrified.

"It's actually Sadie, Jackie and Mallory." Ali Lee answers. "Krystal and Carmen are also in that room."

"So, in the Makeup room, it is Jazmin, Sandy, Abrianna and... Parker?" Veronica works out.

"And in the Handbag room is Carmen, Krystal and those two evil girls," Interrupts Sadie as she comes in the door. She throws her suitcase onto the remaining bed.

The other girls ignore her and keep unpacking. Veronica heads out the door to grab her other suitcase. When she returns, she sees that Macy and Mac are staring down Sadie while Ali Lee looks like she wants to be anywhere but there.

"What's going on?" Veronica asks.

"Someone thought that because she had a bed stolen from her, she could steal someone else's. But she has now realised that is not acceptable, haven't you Sadie?" Macy says, her expression shooting daggers at Sadie.

Sadie just nods her head. She doesn't say anything to anyone else while they unpack.

Alex enters the room. "Sadie, honey, are you OK? Do you want to talk to someone?" She asks Sadie in a comforting tone. Sadie nods despondently. Alex leads her out of the room.

"_OMG! You would think her best friend had died or something, the way she is acting_." Lilly tells Veronica.

The girls finish unpacking quickly and exit the room together. They meet up with the other girls in the kitchen where Ellie is cooking. "Girls, I will be cooking for you tonight, but this will not be a regular thing, so you need to make shopping lists of what foods you want. But now relax and enjoy yourself. I can tell you now that tomorrow will be a big day."

Mac talks to Ellie and is glad to hear there is a vegan option, especially since both Sadie and herself are vegans.

The girls over 21 open a bottle of wine and sip on it casually, acting like they drink it all the time, but Veronica notices that Sadie cringes slightly after each sip. The other girls sip on glasses of soft drink and water. It is pleasant and relaxing, but Veronica notices that Jackie, Sadie and Mallory avoid talking to each other.

Dinner is also a relaxed event. Dinner is lasagne (a separate one is provided for Mac and Sadie) and salad and the girls talk about themselves. Mallory and Jackie (who are still angry about their fight over the bed) start trying to one-up the other, both boasting about their various achievements. Macy listens in and eggs them on, giving them more topics to discuss. Mac and Sadie start a conversation about the benefits of veganism with Carmen and Abrianna. Mac accepts the fact that the girls are not convinced to give up meat in her normal easy going way, but Sadie and Abrianna get into a heated discussion with Abrianna declaring her right to make her own choices.

Krystal, Parker and Jazmin start a conversation about who they would like to meet while in the competition and what clothes they would like to have the chance to wear. Veronica and Ali Lee start a conversation about China as Ali Lee has visited family there often and Veronica has always wanted to go.

After dinner the girls form small groups all over the house as the girls who had made friends previously in the contest caught up with them in private. Krystal and Carmen joined Macy, Veronica, Mac and Ali Lee in the 'Shoe room' for a good gossip. By this time, they are starting to get used to the cameras, especially because it is Gwen and Lucy filming them.

Most of the girls head off to bed early as they have no idea of what will be occurring the next day, but a few stay up late talking on the patio. As Veronica drifts off to sleep, she can still hear their quiet murmurs.

"_Sleep well, Veronica Mars_." Lilly whispers in her ear as she drops off into dreamland.

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**Please Review. The next chapter is the first challenge, but I want to know who you want as the first girl out (Veronica is NOT an option - and neither is Mac), but everyone else is in the running. Let me know, especially as at the moment I am umming and ahhing between two of the girls.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Sorry for the long delay in updating. Combination of writers block and then injuring my back at work and not being able to sit for long without pain. But for my lovely readers, I have worked through the pain and here it is. **

**Thanks as always to my lovely reviewers. It is people like you who keep everyone writing. I have tried to reply to you all, but for all you lovely guests: Thanks for reviewing. It brought a smile to my face. I think you are all wonderful.**

**Anyway, here it is...**

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"URRRRRGGGGRRRRRR."

Veronica woke up startled by the sound of a low flying jet. It took her a few seconds to work out that no, it wasn't a jet.

"URRRRRGGGGGRRRRR."

There was no way that sound was coming from human was there? But it was steady, every few seconds.

"_OMG! Did she swallow a chainsaw_?" Lilly asked angrily. Lilly had never liked her beauty sleep being disturbed.

Veronica sat up as the sound reverberated around the room. Ali Lee was also sitting up looking scared and shocked.

The sound was coming from across the room where Macy and Sadie's beds were. Veronica first realised the noise was coming from Sadie when Macy sat up angrily and threw her pillow at Sadie's bed. The pillow hit her, but all it did was cause her to grunt and roll over a bit. The three girl's mouth's dropped open with shock she snored even louder.

"How are we supposed to sleep through that?" Ali Lee basically sobbed as it continued. Veronica felt like joining her. How were they supposed to do their best tomorrow without sleep? They were not going to look very attractive with dark circles under their eyes, or red puffy eyes.

Macy lay back down and shoved her pillow over her head. After a few moments she chucked it to the floor in frustration. "That doesn't help. How is she sleeping through it?" She asks angrily.

Veronica turns her head to look at Mac. Mac is still fast asleep. She looks so peaceful that for a minute Veronica hates her as much as she hates Madison. How can she sleep through Sadie's snoring?

The girls try to block out the noise and shove their pillows and doonas over their heads to try and block out the noise. Ali Lee actually rips up a tissue and stuffs it in her ears as make do ear plugs. After about an hour, they give up. The snoring is just too loud. Ali Lee is actually sobbing now and Veronica feels like doing the same. She sits up and tries to smile reassuringly at Ali Lee.

Sadie suddenly snorts and turns over. There is silence. Macy, Ali Lee and Veronica look at each other in hope. As the silence continues, they lay down in relief. This relief is short lived as the chain saw starts up again. The three girls groan in disappointment.

"The sound is actually affecting my equipment," a voice comments from the darkness. The girls are startled and Ali Lee actually lets out a tiny squeal.

Veronica focuses on the dark shadow near the door and is surprised to see Gwen there filming.

"Sorry to startle you girls. I was filming earlier and I was still up when I heard that noise. I thought I needed to get this on tape. It's incredible to think that noise is coming from such a girly girl" she says.

"It's like she swallowed a lawn mower!" Macy grumbles.

"No, a chain saw." Veronica argues, feeling very grumpy.

"Don't care what. We need it to stop!" Ali Lee almost screams.

Gwen smiles sympathetically at them. She films Sadie and the other girl's reaction. In the end Macy grabs her pillow and doona and stalks out of the room. Veronica and Ali Lee exchange looks, before grabbing their own pillows and doonas and following her leadership. They settle on the lounges and each sigh happily at how quiet this room is. Gwen films them as they finally fall asleep again.

At 5am the girls are awoken by the chaperones moving around getting ready for the day. Ali Lee, Veronica and Macy are tired and grumpy. They move back to the Shoe room to grab their outfits for the day, making no attempt to be quiet.

"Do you mind? Some people are trying to sleep!" Sadie whinges to them.

They say nothing, but Macy does make sure she slams her drawers closed.

They each have a long hot shower to try and feel less stiff and sore.

"Good Morning!" Krystal greets them as they enter the kitchen. She looks bright and refreshed.

Ali Lee manages to mumble "morning", but Macy and Veronica just grunt. Krystal feels hurt and it is written all over her face.

"Oh, we are sorry." Veronica exclaims, "We just had a bad night. We are sharing a room with a..." her voice drops to a whisper, "snorer."

Krystal instantly pulls out mugs from a cupboard and starts making coffee. "Say no more. A girl in my room at cheerleading camp snored. I'll make you coffee and then I'll help do your makeup to cover up any dark eyes."

She allows Ali Lee, Macy and Veronica to rest their heads on the table while she makes them coffee. Jazmin and Parker come bouncing out of their room and Krystal convinces them to help her make breakfast. By the time Macy, Veronica and Ali Lee have finished their first cup of coffee they have become more civil and can make conversation with the other girls. Soon, the smell of bacon and eggs cooking drew out most of the girls. Veronica, Macy and Ali Lee made sure they stayed away from Sadie, which was easier than they would have thought, as she was angry at them for waking her up so early and for eating 'baby chickens' and 'Babe'.

All too soon, the girls were told the stretch hummer would be leaving in 15 minutes. There was a rush to the bathrooms as the girls hurried to look their best. The girls are nervous and excited about the first challenge so there is a lot of screaming.

They all pile into the Hummer, Mac finally joining the other girls. She is unsure if Veronica is telling the truth about Sadie's snoring. A noise mixed between a lawn mower, chain saw and jet? It can't be possible. She at first feels a bit jealous that she slept through it, as the other three girls are definitely closer friends than they were before, but seeing how tired they are (Ali Lee actually has her head resting on Macy's shoulder, trying to get a bit of extra sleep), she decides that she is glad she is a heavy sleeper.

The Hummer pulls up at dance studio in LA. The girls are lead upstairs to a large rectangular studio which has windows down one side and mirrors the full length of the other wall. The girls form a group at the end of the room. Pauly enters the room. Some of the girls clap and squeal, but most just look at him. Pauly had not endeared himself to anyone.

"OK, we will do that again and you will all clap." Juanita bosses the girls. Pauly turns around and exits the room and then reappears. The girls all obediently clap and squeal.

"Welcome girls. Today, you will be learning how to move your bodies. Models need to pose in a variety of positions and if you are uncomfortable in your body, these poses are going to look uncomfortable. To start, I need you to change into your outfits to ensure you can move freely. Go to the change room and change into your outfits and come back here as quick as possible." Pauly says in his usual sneering voice.

The girls rush to the change room. Their outfits are hanging in lockers with their names on them. Macy is the first to say what all the girls are thinking.

"This hides nothing!"

Veronica picks up the flesh coloured leotard with two fingers. She agrees whole heartedly with Macy. As she changes into the leotard she tries to avoid her reflection in the mirror. The leotard clings to every curve and bump, hiding nothing. She at least is wearing flesh coloured underwear. A lot of girls are moaning to each other as their underwear is easily seen through the light coloured material. As the girls walk back into the studio, only a couple of girls manage to look confident.

"_Wow, she has guts to walk like that, looking like that!"_ Lilly giggles.

Veronica has to agree. Jackie is striding around like she has no worries, even though her bright red underwear is very apparent under her leotard.

"Well, here is the first lesson of the competition. The wrong underwear can spoil the look of an outfit. A designer looking for someone to model their clothes should not be given any reason to say no. So, ONLY WEAR FLESH COLOURED UNDERWEAR!" Pauly scolds. A lot of the girls turn red, and a couple look down in embarrassment.

"For those girls not wearing flesh coloured underwear, please leave the room and change into the new pairs we have provided for you. You will all be given new pairs to have in the competition."

Most of the girls leave the room with Juanita following them, hissing at them to hurry. Macy, Krystal, Sandy and Veronica are the only girls left in the room. Pauly looks at them impressed. Veronica silently thanks Lynn for her good advice.

When the other girls enter the studio again, they nervously await for instruction. Veronica is surprised when she hears it.

"You are now going to have a dance lesson with famous contemporary chorographer Natalie Harry. She knows how the body can move and how to make a simple move change to be powerful, angry or graceful. I recommend you try and learn as much as you can from her." Pauly starts to exit the room, but Juanita hisses at him. He turns back around and smiles broadly at them, "Have fun!" he simpers at them.

As he walks out Macy murmurs into Veronica's ear, "I think I like him more when he honestly hates us not when he pretends to like us."

Veronica agrees.

Natalie Harry walks in. She walks like a dancer. Ever move she makes is graceful but striking. She is a tall, thin woman with well defined muscles. He blond hair is pulled back tightly into a high bun and she is wearing a black leotard but with a flimsy little scarf tied around her hips.

"Girls, welcome to my studio. Today I will be teaching you the basics of dancing and movement. It is imperative that you listen, watch and learn today. If you try, I promise you that you will leave here with a lot of knowledge to help you with this competition." Natalie's voice is surprisingly loud, but she speaks with a melodic pace.

The girls position themselves throughout the studio, all facing the wall of mirrors. Natalie's two 'aides' lead the girls through a thorough warm up. The girls stretch. Veronica is glad that unlike some of the girls, she did not try and get as close to the cameras, as she does not want a shot of her with her bum up in the air.

Once the girls have finished stretching, Nikki and Nic (the aides) go through some basic moves with them. Veronica is glad for all the dance classes that Lilly made her take.

"_See Dorkus. I told you they would come in handy_." Lilly boasts. She loved being proved right.

Soon Natalie moves to the front of the room and starts to teach them a routine with the moves they have just been taught. Some of the girls pick it up quickly while others struggle. Sadie is one of the girls struggling, and she and Mallory do not even try to hide how stupid they think learning the dance is. Veronica has to roll her eyes. She knows she is not an expert at modelling, but even she can see that a lot of the positions the dance puts them in would make great poses for model shoots. The girls are given the whole morning to learn and practice the dance. They are then given a light lunch and left to practice the dance by themselves (camera crew still filming in the corner). Some of the girls decide that they already know the dance and after one run through, sit in the corner to gossip. Mallory and Sadie surprise everyone from joining these girls. Veronica and Krystal spend the time running through the dance with Mac and Abrianna. While Mac has learnt the moves, she just executes them mechanically, with none of the grace that Krystal is sure they will be looking for. Abrianna has the opposite problem. She has a lot of grace with her moves but keeps forgetting what order the moves need to be made in. Veronica likes helping these two girls, as even though they are having trouble, they are both determined to do the best they can.

In the end, Mac is trying to put more grace into it and Abrianna almost knows the routine.

"Just don't stop." Krystal tells her. "If you forget a step, just keep going. Repeat the last step until you know the next step you can do. It is better that you are wrong than to just stop and stand there." She smiles at Abrianna and Mac.

"Girls, let's see how much you have learnt. Each of you will be dance the routine by yourself. However, the challenge for you is to add an ending to the dance that you think will create the best picture for the photographer who will be here taking photos. The winner will be decided by myself and Natalie. Natalie, will you tell the girls what the winner will win?" Pauly announces.

"She will win a diamond bracelet from..." the rest of her sentence is drowned out by the screams from the girls.

Veronica crosses her fingers that she is not first. For once she feels that luck is on her side, as Jackie is called first. The rest of the girls are allowed to watch and then respond with their thoughts to the camera.

Jackie does very well. While she is lacking some of the grace, she performs well, remembering all the moves. Yet Mallory and Sadie mock her under their breaths the entire time. While most of the girls ignore them, Parker and Jazmin join in with their giggling. When Jackie finishes, she joins this group. The camera crew focuses on these girls.

The girls each take their turn. While most, like Jackie, remember the moves they are not as graceful as Natalie was when she taught them. Yet there are some who stand out. Sandy is very graceful and even the giggling stops when she dances. Yet Mac's dancing leads to Mallory, Sadie and Jackie giggling hysterically. Veronica's heart goes out to Mac. She really does look like a robot trying to dance, but that does not mean some people have to actually say it out loud. She takes Mac's hand and squeezes it reassuringly.

Veronica has her go, and she feels that she performs OK. She remembers the moves, though she has Lilly's voice in her head yelling at her to 'relax her face'. Krystal gives her the thumbs up when she is finished and Macy winks at her.

Abrianna is called up. She looks nervous. She starts moving and looks graceful but then she stumbles over a step. Veronica is sure that she and everyone else can see the panic on Abrianna's face as she forgets the next step. Veronica is proud of her as she takes a deep breath and repeats the start of the dance again until she remembers the steps. She then dances the correct steps until the end.

Veronica ignores the laughter from the girls behind her and gives Abrianna a hug. "Well done."

Veronica watches Mallory and Sadie with a deep sense of satisfaction. Both of them mess up the steps, but unlike Abrianna, they stop dancing and wait until they know the steps. While they had the gall to laugh at Mac for her dancing, neither of them are much better.

"_It is like they are malfunctioning robots. Or heavy elephants trying to dance like birds but forgetting half way. At least your new friend Mac knew the steps_." Lilly says dismissively.

Veronica is glad when Jackie continues to make comments, causing laughter to still flow from Parker and Jazmin and Sadie and Mallory to turn red.

The girls are left to talk among themselves while Natalie and Pauly leave the room to deliberate. Veronica, Macy and Krystal discuss it and are pretty sure Sandy will have won the bracelet. She was the most graceful. They then spend the rest of the time trying to convince Mac that she wasn't too bad, at least she remembered all the steps and it is just a challenge, they still have the photo shoot to do before the judges actually decide on whom to send home.

Pauly and Natalie walk back into the room.

"Well girls, Natalie and I have made a decision based on how well you performed the routine and how well your photo came out. But first a few comments." He smirks at the girls. Veronica can she he is positively gleeful about getting the chance to say negative things. He surprises her though.

"Most of you showed promise. Just a reminder to Veronica, Jackie and Ali Lee, keep your face relaxed. We could see in your photos exactly how worried you were about making a mistake. Try not to be so obvious with your thoughts." Veronica thinks this is fair criticism.

"Others of you need to practice moving your bodies in front of the mirror. You need to get used to moving your body. While it may not feel natural at the moment, with repetition it will become more natural to you." It is pretty obvious he looks straight at Mac as he says this.

"Sadie and Mallory, your efforts to this task showed in your performance. As Natalie reported to me, you decided that this task was benefit you and took no time or effort in learning the dance. When it came time to perform it, you stood still, looking like stunned mullets. Do you think a potential client would hire you after that show?" He glared at them and they had the grace to look embarrassed.

"Abrianna, you showed us exactly what to do when you misstep. You did not stop and make it obvious that you had made a mistake; you kept on trying and moving. If you continue to do this in the competition, you will go far." He actually smiles at Abrianna who looks delighted at the compliment.

"Yet, there was one who really stood out. She showed that she has the needed knowledge of her body to appear natural, and she produced a wonderful natural photo. Congratulations... Sandy!"

Sandy squeals in absolute delight, tears forming in her eyes. Her smile though spreads right across her face.

Veronica has no trouble in joining in some of the other girls in clapping. She is surprised though that Sadie and Mallory look so sour, only joining their hands together a couple of times. They were so against having to do the challenge, why are they shocked and annoyed that they didn't win?

After the girls change, they file back into the hummer to head back to the Model Mansion. Veronica is surprised it is later than she thought. The sun is starting to set, causing the skyscrapers to turn red and the shadows to lengthen. All of the sudden, the lack of sleep from the night before hits her and she feels very weary. She tries to keep her eyes open, but it is a losing battle. She spends the rest of the limo trip dozing on Mac's shoulder.

She is woken by Sadie rudely pushing past her legs to get out of the hummer. She blushes when she realises that she had fallen asleep and that Mac now has a wet patch on her sleeve.

Mac just laughs at her and pulls her from the hummer. Macy and Ali Lee are also rubbing sleep from their eyes. As they move towards the house she can see Beth waiting for them.

"Dinner is ready, go and wash your hands and return to the dining table." She instructs them.

Veronica joins the rush to the bathrooms and then finds a place at the table. She is sitting between Sandy and Parker, two girls she hasn't gotten to talk to before.

"Congratulations on winning today." She tells Sandy. Sandy smiles broadly at her.

"Thanks. I have never won anything before, oh no, I tell a lie, a won a raffle three years ago." She laughs.

"What did you win?" asked Veronica interested.

Sandy continues to laugh. "It was at a fund raiser and the prizes were things bought in by the members of the group organising the night. I think many of them saw it as a way to get rid of Christmas gifts they didn't want."

Veronica has to giggle. "Like re-gifting the random porcelain figure of a duck wearing a hat that your Great Aunt gave you?"

"Yes! So, after about 10 minutes of the raffle tickets being called, my ticket is pulled out. I won an avocado cutter and a melon ball spoon."

Veronica cracks up. "Well, I think the bracelet is much better." She says. Sandy moves her arm in front of Veronica's face so she can admire it. It really is beautiful, not too ostentatious, just classy.

"You are wearing it? Let me see!" Parker asks, leaning over Veronica to grab Sandy's arm to have a better look at the bracelet. "Oh, I thought it would have more diamonds." She sniffs.

"It's better than a melon ball spoon." Veronica comments. She and Sandy exchange a look. Parker looks at them like they have antennae growing from their heads. Veronica and Sandy explain.

"Oh, I have won lots of prizes. My Mum enters me into a lot of contests so I have won money, jewellery, clothes and shoes." Parker boasts. When Veronica and Sandy don't seem impressed she starts praising their clothes. Veronica soon decides that Parker is a bit two faced. She is the type of girl who will pretend to ask you if it is OK to date your ex, but you know that if you say no, it will get nasty, and if you say yes, she will try and rub it in your face, and hence it will get nasty.

Veronica is glad when Macy, who is sitting on the other side of Parker, captures her attention and she joins the conversation further down the table debating who has the better stomach muscles, David Beckham, Conner Larkin or Ryan Gosling.

She gets to know more about Sandy, about her family and her upbringing. She is surprised at how much she enjoys talking about herself and her Dad. She avoids talking about her Mum, and Sandy does not bring her up, which Veronica is very grateful for. Once dinner is finished, Veronica says goodnight to Sandy and moves to the bedroom to get ready for bed. She is really tired and scared that Sadie's snoring will wake her up again. Ali Lee is also there getting ready for bed. Both hope that tonight will be a lot quieter.

"URRRRRGGGGRRRRRR."

Veronica wakes up and feels like sobbing. From the faint movement she can see coming from Ali Lee's bed, she is pretty sure Ali Lee is.

Veronica turns her head and is surprised to see a few members of the camera crew in the doorway. Their mouths are open as they listen to the noise.

"That's it!" Macy almost yelled. I am stopping this!"

The camera crew look excited. "It would make the footage for tonight more interesting." One of them comments.

"I don't think you should be mean. It is not like she is doing it on purpose." Veronica whispers worriedly. While it is really annoying it is not like Sadie can just stop.

Macy just smiles at Ali Lee and Veronica, reminding Veronica alarmingly of Lilly at her worst. The smile just before Celeste found out. Veronica and Ali Lee exchange worried looks.

"_Just play along_," Macy tells them, but Veronica hears Lilly. She knows that whatever happens will be very funny.

Macy forces her face to become slack and her eyes to become glassy. She walks up and down the room mumbling to herself. Veronica can't help but smile. Macy starts to slide into Sadie's bed. Sadie wakes up immediately in terror.

"Mummy and Daddy, I had a scary nightmare." Macy mumbles to Sadie, before pushing Sadie over and out of the bed. Veronica tries really hard to not laugh.

"What the hell?" Sadie starts to yell and Veronica takes Lilly's advice. She rushes to the bed.

"Oh thank goodness. She must sleep walk. But at least she is in bed now. You don't mind swapping beds do you?" Veronica asks.

Sadie frowns and takes a deep breath. Veronica can see she is about to lose it.

"WHY SHOULD I MISS OUT ON SLEEP FOR HER? I..." She trails off as she notices the camera crew filming.

"You can have her bed. There, all fixed." Veronica moves back to bed and puts her ear plugs in. She settles quickly. Soon the camera crew get footage of Macy, Ali Lee and Veronica sleeping. Sadie is so angry she cannot sleep and thus tosses and turns for the rest of the night, allowing the room to remain silent.

The next day, all the girls wake up feeling refreshed, except Sadie. She ignores them all, except Macy, who she calls a freak. Macy keeps up the act and pretends she has no idea why Sadie is angry at her.

After breakfast, the girls are directed to get in the hummer. It is time for either another challenge or a photo shoot. The girls watch the scenery out the window, trying to guess where they are going.

"We are heading to San Diego." Mac says, excited to be close to home.

The car pulls up at San Diego Zoo. Ellie leads them to a green leafy area well within the zoo and then Juanita organises the girls into two lines. Veronica and Ali Lee were made to stand at the front as 'they were the shortest,' (said with a slight sneer by Juanita). From here, they could not see any animals, but they could hear the roars of lions and other varying howls.

The camera crew (Veronica is one of the few girls who know this is the team of Charlie and Michael, both fathers of two girls) film the girls standing in line and their reactions at seeing Jake come down the path. Gwen and Lucy are filming Jake making his entrance.

"Welcome girls to your first photo shoot. I will be your shoot director for the contest. Today I have the privilege of introducing you to your photographer. He has shot many famous models, including our own Miranda McPherson and his pictures have been shown in many different publications around the world. Girls, may I present to you, Will Anders."

A man makes his way down the path towards the girls. There is a moment silence before the girls start clapping. Veronica is surprised. She has seen Will Anders' work before. She is a fan of his dramatic and powerful images and she had always imagined him looking strong and powerful. Her first impression of him in person is completely different. He is like a more unattractive Danny Devito. He is short and rotund, like a ball. His dark hair is receding and he has a comb over, obviously trying to hide his growing bald patch.

"Hello Girls. I am sure you are wondering why you are here at the zoo. Today you will be posing with various animals, fashioned as that animal. The aim is for you to take on the personality of the animal assigned to you, but still look fashionable."

The girls all look worried. Even though they had been working on their poses, the dance was a lot different from making animal poses look 'fashionable'.

The girls are split up. Some head off to the trailers to get their hair and makeup done. This is where they find out what animal they will be. The others are allowed to look around the zoo until the producers are ready for them. Veronica is in the first group with Ali Lee, Jackie, Abrianna, Macy and Mallory. They are separated once they are in the trailers.

"Hi Veronica, I am Jess. I am one of the makeup artists working on the show. Today I get to make you into a Bobcat. Do you know what a bobcat is?" Jess asks. She is a natural blond who at first look, looks like she is wearing no makeup, but if you look closer, she is actually wearing a lot. Veronica feels like she is in good hands.

Veronica is not sure what a bobcat is. "It is a large cat?"

"Yes, it is part of the Lynx family and is usually about two times the size of a domesticated cat. We are going to use body paint to add the stripes and spots to your skin. So you basically will be wearing this leotard and these ears, oh, and you get a tail." Jess tells her. Veronica stares at her in shock. But then she realises that she had already worn a leotard on the show, how bad could this be.

Veronica changes into the leotard and twirls her hair up into a hairnet. Looking in the mirror, she pulls a face. She feels stupid. Using a spray tan gun, Jess turns her skin the greyish colour of a bobcat. Veronica tries not to move when the cold paint hits her skin. Another woman named Sophie comes in to help paint on the stripes and spots. It takes over an hour until Jess and Sophie decide that Veronica's body is ready. Sophie then adds claw like nails to her fingers while Jess paints Veronica's face with the markings and makes her face look cat like.

"Is Veronica ready?" One of the producers pokes his head in.

"One more thing." Jess finishes drawing on the last whisker. She then positions a pair of cat ears on Veronica's head and attaches a little bob tail to the back of the leotard. Veronica can't help but squeal with excitement. She really looks cat like.

"_OMG! I have the perfect Halloween costume for you. You have to go as a sexy cat! Man, I thought 'sexy nurse', but you totally rock the cat look._" Lilly squeals in her head.

The producer leads Veronica out into the zoo and towards an exhibit. Veronica starts to feel nervous. Will she be posing with a bobcat? Are they dangerous?

Jake greets her and raves about how she looks. He then gets serious.

"Veronica, you will be posing around the rocks you can see behind you. You will be posing with a bobcat, but the zoo keepers will be close by and this bobcat has been raised by the keepers so he is considered quite tame."

Will Anders joins them. "What I want to see is the characteristics of the bobcat reflected in your photo. You do not have to worry about the animal, just pose as if it is not there."

Veronica is confused by this. What is the point of having the bobcat in there then? She can see the bobcat stalking up and down, and while it is only small, she still feels a bit intimidated. But then she remembers Logan saying that he woke up one morning outside with a hangover to find a bobcat looking down at him, and it didn't hurt him, and that was a wild one, this is a 'tame' one. So she takes a deep breath and nods to show her understanding and to give her consent. She watches the bobcat move around the pen. It has a sense of power under its fur. An idea comes to her.

Jake and a zoo keeper help her into the exhibit. The bobcat freezes and watches her closely. Veronica carefully moves to the rocks, Will Anders and the zoo keepers following her. Jake sits on the other side of the exhibit behind a computer. Veronica is not sure she likes him at the moment.

Will gestures for her to start. She crouches down on all fours in a typical cat pose. Will snaps a few shots, but Veronica can tell already that he is disappointed. She arches her back and raises one arm like a paw. Will gets a bit more interested. She turns to the side and just like she saw the bobcat do earlier, she freezes with her head just watching Will. She tries to form her face into a watchful calculating look.

"Yes Veronica. More like that." Will calls out to her.

"Can I get closer to the rocks?" she asks. Will nods yes. Veronica moves over to the rocks and gets up on her legs. She stretches out her body and scrapes her claw like nails down the rock face. She has no idea if bobcats sharpen their claws, but she knows that cats do. Will has her move her head slightly and then arc her back even more. After taking a few shots he asks her if she has any more ideas. She takes some shots of her pretending to prowl around the rocks. In the end, her last shots are of her lying across the rocks like a cat.

"Great Veronica. We are done." Will tells her and shakes her hand. "You have a lot of interesting ideas. You also take instruction well."

Veronica feels an immense sense of pride. As she leaves the enclosure she turns and looks back at the bobcat. Its gaze meets hers, and she understands with sudden clarity why Logan had been obsessed with bobcats after his encounter.

Veronica goes back to the trailer where she is amazed to see Carmen transformed into a flamingo. She twirls in front of Carmen, to show off her bobcat costume and then Sophie takes her claws off. She is then directed into the shower with some heavy duty soap. After a lot of scrubbing she manages to get the paint off her skin, though she is now a bright pink instead of grey from her intense cleaning.

When she hops out she is happy to see Abrianna is also finished.

"Yay! Lets go check out the animals. I want to introduce you to Herbert. He was the gorilla I got to pose with." She says excitedly. She pulls Veronica all the way to the gorilla exhibit. The two of them join the crowds of people watching the gorillas. Veronica finds herself relaxing. From what Abrianna tells her, she also found the shoot difficult. She felt that she looked like a gorilla, but is questioning whether or not it looked 'fashionable'.

They leave the gorillas to get a drink, as it is now the middle of the day and the temperature is rising. Veronica then takes Abrianna to see the bobcat. It is like a game of 'Where's Wally'. The bobcats are now hidden in the shade of the rocks and some bushes and it is hard to see them. They decide to come back later in the day if they can.

They have a fun time looking around the zoo, but especially enjoy seeing Sandy's photo shoot. She has been transformed into a meerkat. She stretches her body out, widens her eyes and hangs her hands in front of her. She should look stupid, but she has a grace which makes it look striking.

By the end of day, everyone is exhausted. Some girls are boasting about how well they did. Others are upset. Mac is one of the girls who are worried. She was a bald eagle, but had felt awkward. She tells Veronica that she just followed the directions from Jake and Will.

It is Krystal who makes Mac feel better. She tells Mac and Veronica that her animal was a snake. She is terrified of snakes. She ended up posing with the snake, but she admits that she had cried a lot so thinks this will definitely count against her. Veronica and Mac try to reassure her that she probably did get a good photo, but Veronica can tell that Mac is secretly pleased that someone else thinks they did bad.

That night, all the girls go to bed early. They know that tomorrow it will be time for the Judging panel to critique them, and ultimately send someone home. Veronica is amazed when Macy gives Ali Lee and her ear plugs. Seeing their questioning looks, she explains that she had explained to one of the zoo keepers that the tiger roars didn't bother her because of Sadie's snoring. He was happy to get them some of the ear plugs the keepers used at the zoo. Both Ali Lee and Veronica thank her profusely. That night, if Sadie did snore, no one heard it.

The next day, all the girls enjoyed a lie in. Their meeting with the judges is not until after lunch. The morning involves them working out what to wear to it. In the end, Veronica chooses a pair of denim jeans and a black singlet top. She adds a pair of black heels and pulls her fringe back with a clip.

For the first time in the competition, there is no sound from any of the girls as they get into the hummer. It is silent as it travels to the judging panel site, which they find out will be filmed in one of the conference rooms in a local hotel. The girls are told it is so the others girls can have dinner while the girl going home can go back to the house alone and pack and leave without any 'ugly scenes'.

The girls are taught how to walk into the room and where to stand in front of the judges. Veronica can't believe how much practice they need to walk into a room, especially since this is supposed to be a 'reality' show. But in the end, they get the right shot. Veronica is in the front row, 2nd from the right, in between Ali Lee and Parker. The judges march in. Miranda remains standing but the others sit down.

"Good Evening girls." Miranda introduces, which surprises Veronica, because it is only about 2pm. Veronica doesn't really pay attention to the spiel Miranda does for the cameras. She knows who the judges are. Miranda, Jake, Pauly and the guest judges Natalie and Will.

"_OH, COME ON! Did my bestie get in or not?_" Lilly whines impatiently.

"The winner will receive a one year contract with the modelling agency 'Ruby's Model Management', a cover and 5 page spread in the magazine 'Oui', a brand new car and $500 000." Miranda announces. After this there is a lot of spontaneous screaming and clapping. Veronica joins in, hoping that they won't have to repeat this. She is relieved when they move on.

Miranda rehashes what the girls have done as challenges for the last few days.

"_Blah, Blah, Blah. WE KNOW! They don't have amnesia_!" Lilly is definitely frustrated with how long they are drawing this out.

Finally, they start the individual evaluations.

Veronica is amazed at how the girl's photos have turned out. She thinks most of them look great. Even Mac's looks amazing. Mac had obviously been frustrated, but that fierceness makes her look more like a bald eagle. Both Veronica and the judges are amazed at how different Mac looks in her photo.

Another standout is Sandy who does look like a Meerkat but her body looks amazing. Sadie's is also memorable, but for all the wrong reasons. She had a vacant look on her face and her body looks stumpy. Veronica wonders why there is no lorikeet in the photo with her. The judges make mention about her behaviour at the photo shoot being unprofessional, but they do not expand on it. Sadie is angry and then sulky at not having a good evaluation.

"Last is Veronica." Miranda announces.

Veronica walks down the middle of the room and stops on the mark in front of the judges. She smiles at them.

"Veronica, how did you find the photo shoot?" Miranda asked her.

"It was good. I didn't know much about Bobcats but they are really interesting animals."

"Do you want to see how your photo turned out?"

"_Nah, she wants it to remain a secret!"_ Lilly's voice resonates in her ear. Veronica just nods.

The photo that appears on the screen makes her gasp. She can't believe it is her. She looks taller, more graceful but also powerful. The judges are also impressed.

"Wow. I love how you stretched your body out." Natalie says.

"I really enjoyed working with you," Will says, "you had some really good ideas for poses and you took instruction well."

"Hmmm." Pauly has to be slightly negative. "You need to concentrate on your face. In some frames it looked a bit stiff."

"Thanks Veronica." Miranda says. Veronica turns and walks back to her place.

"Girls, it is now time for the judges to deliberate. When you come back, 12 of you will be closer to their dream of being the Newest Supermodel and one of you will be going home.

The girls leave the Judge's room and are taken to a nearby room. Veronica sits quietly with her friends and listens to Jackie and a few others predict who is going to be in the bottom two. Veronica is relieved her name is not mentioned.

The producers come and get the girls. Veronica is surprised at how long the judging panel has taken. It is almost evening now. She walks with the other girls into the room. They are all silent. The judges stare at them seriously.

"The first person who will be continuing with their dream of becoming a Supermodel is..."

* * *

**HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.**

**As they always say, stay tuned for the next episode. You will be watching it with our favourite man and we will find out who makes it in and who gets sent home (Hint: Veronica is safe).**

**Keep smiling (and reading and reviewing - it makes me smile)**

**Shel**


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: I am so sorry I have taken so long to update! (A month is the longest I have left it!) I got a major case of writer's block and then life just seemed to get busy all of a sudden. But never fear, I am not going to leave this story unfinished. Promise.

Thanks to the people who have favourited this story, those who are following it and a huge thanks to those who spend the time to write in that very magical box. You reviewers are the BEST. I try to reply to all of them but I am sorry if I miss anyone. Big thanks to guests: Maggie, Angel, Nichole and Guest.

And just in case you have some concerns, no I do not own Veronica Mars or any reality shows. No really, I wouldn't lie to you!

* * *

When the second episode of 'Supermodel Search' aired, Logan was not watching. He was at a party in LA with Dick. When it was showing, he was doing tequila shots off the breast of busty, peroxide blond. He wasn't thinking about any of the wannabe models, not when he had a group of slutty girls who wanted him to get into their shorts.

He ended up waking up next to the busty blond, hung over and seriously regretting the night before. His head hurt, his eyes were blood shot and every muscle hurt. Plus he now had to get a random girl out of his bedroom at his parent's LA pad. This was much harder than he thought it would be. The girl who had appeared slutty the night before had suddenly turned into a very clingy girl. Even worse, an Aaron Echolls' fan!

"You are Aaron Echoll's son!" She kept squealing.

At first Logan just rolled his eyes, but in the end, with Lilly's voice echoing in his head, he yelled, "I KNOW!"

In the end, it was Dick who got rid of her. His own 'hook up girl' had left hours earlier after waking up to Dick puking into her shoes. Dick also used this method on Logan's girl. He walked into the kitchen where the girl was cooking 'Aaron Echolls' son' brunch. Dick rolled his eyes and shook his head. However, this movement caused his stomach to roll as well, and he emptied his stomach (now only filled with stomach bile) all over the girl's dress. She left soon after, leaving her number and extracting a false promise from Logan that he would 'call her.'

Logan high fived Dick and helped him clean himself up (the maid cleaned the kitchen). They then sat in the home theatre room with their plates of brunch.

"Man, let's watch Ronnie." Dick says through a mouthful of food.

"Do you have a time machine?" Logan asks. Didn't Dick remember that it was on the night before? That is why Logan bought him to LA. He didn't want to watch it. It bought up too many emotions.

"Huh?" Dick questions.

"It was on last night." Logan explains.

"Yeah, but I TiVoed it." Dick explains with glee. He grabbed the remote and pressed a few buttons.

_Voice over of Host Miranda (VOoHM): _On last week's episode, our Top 13 was chosen from 100s of applicants. This week the girls arrive at the Model Mansion and participate in their first model challenge and photo shoot. All the girls show promise, but by the end of this episode one will go home, and we will be closer to finding our next Supermodel.

The opening credits start. A popular new pop song plays while photos of the girls are shown with their names underneath. Logan recognises the outfits from the photo shoot from the last episode. He tries to ignore the rush of emotions he gets when Veronica's name and photo appears.

The show opens with the girls squealing as they get into a bright pink stretch car. Dick face palms himself.

'Why ruin a perfectly good car by painting it pink?" He asks. Logan can't answer him.

Most of the girls shown sitting in the hummer look excited, a few even keep squealing. Both Dick and Logan can't work out why they would be excited. It is just a car. Only two of them, Macy and Jackie are acting normally. Logan notices that Veronica is one of a couple of girls who just look nervous.

The hummer pulls up to a large sprawling mansion which reminds Logan of Duncan's house. The girls are shown running up the stairs. The next scene shows the girls gasping in wonder and then running all over the house. The camera shows them running through the lounge room, to the kitchen and dining room outside to a patio and garden and finally to the bedrooms and bathroom. Logan is impressed. The mansion reminds him of his own house, expensive looking but still cosy looking. And even better, no pictures of his Dad anywhere. He scoffs at the large movie poster which shows Aaron's face three times normal size staring down at him from the opposite wall of the home theatre room. The model house has pictures of girly stuff on the walls.

There are 3 bedrooms. Logan has to roll his eyes at the predictability. All the rooms all have a theme. A handbag room, a makeup room and a shoe room. The footage shows the girls running to the rooms they want and claiming beds. Most just throw their bags onto the beds they want. The girls in the makeup room are shown hugging each other as the promise to be friends throughout the competition. Logan rolls his eyes. He bets they will be enemies the first time one of them hogs the bathroom mirror for too long.

"Man, I thought there would be a chick fight." Dick comments despondently. His frown turns to one of glee as the fight between Jackie, Mallory and Sadie breaks out over a bed.

All three girl's argument starts out as that they were there first. The show helpfully plays the footage of the three girls running into the room and throwing their suitcases on to the bed in slow motion. Sadie enters the room first, but Jackie's suitcase lands on the bed first due to a very accurate throw. Mallory is definitely the last to reach the bed. As the argument progresses, the insults get thrown around.

"I was here first!" they each cry out. None of them want to back down. It goes on and on. The little Asian girl (Logan remembers her name is Ali Lee and reminds Dick) tries to diffuse the fight by giving up her bed and leaving the room, but the girls ignore her. While Mallory and Sadie just act like toddlers chucking a tantrum (just with more words bleeped out), Jackie shows a talent with using words as weapons. It reminds Logan a bit of Lilly taking on Madison and Caitlin.

"Look Sadie, red heads are already a dying breed, why don't you survive a bit longer and let me have my bed?" she says staring straight at her. Sadie turns bright red, her mouth dropping open in shock. Logan is sure he can see her brain turning over as she tries to think of a reply. Jackie turns over to the sniggering Mallory.

"Mallory, stop smirking. Ask yourself why would you need this bigger bed? It is not like you are so attractive that any of the girls here will turn for you."

Mallory does stop smirking. The scene ends with Jackie happily jumping on her bed, Mallory scowling in the corner and Sadie slinking out of the room.

During the ad break, Dick turns to Logan with a grin on his face.

"Man, that was a cool fight, just wish there had been more hair pulling."

The show comes back with a scene of the girls sharing their first meal together. Logan and Dick have to laugh at footage of some of the over 21 girls sharing a bottle of wine. Sadie is trying so hard to appear sophisticated, but her grimaces after each sip ruin the effect. Mallory and Jackie are obviously trying to one-up the other, both boasting about their various achievements. Logan rolls his eyes. They really are like the 09er girls at school. They boast about their parent's jobs (Jackie's mum is an ex model and her dad is a baseball player. Mallory's mum is an ex model and her dad is the guitarist in a band) Logan feels a pain in his chest as the footage shows Macy joining the conversation and baits them into appearing stupid with their boasting, giving them more outrageous topics to comment on. He knows that Lilly would have done the exact same thing. He has to chuckle as Jackie states that she has bungee jumped 5 times and Mallory has done it 6 times but also upside down.

The other conversation which is shown is Mac and Sadie talking about the benefits of veganism with Carmen and Abrianna.

"Eating anything from an animal is cannibalism. They are also God's creatures and we should not sacrifice their lives just so we can eat a steak." Sadie says in a superior voice.

"I stopped eating meat years ago when I saw a chicken getting killed on my family's annual camping trip. I later read more about animal cruelty and decided that my way of preventing it was to stop eating anything from an animal." Mac explains more calmly.

"I tried being a vegan a couple of years back," Carmen adds, "I gave it up because my health suffered. I became anaemic from a lack of iron and I got really sick and couldn't fight it off, so I decided that being a vegan wasn't the most beneficial thing for me to do for..."

"You decided that your health was more important than saving animals." Sadie interrupts, snorting derisively.

Carmen looks annoyed. "Yes, but I give money to the World Wildlife Fund every month instead and I volunteer at the local shelter." She explains.

Sadie doesn't look appeased. "You could take iron tablets."

Abrianna joins into the conversation. "Hang on. Taking iron tablets and any vitamins would be unnatural. They are made in labs you know."

Carmen looks relieved someone is on her side. Sadie attacks Abrianna. "So eat vegetables that provide iron. No living creature dies for your diet then."

"Well that just reeks of hypocrisy. Like it or not, plants are also living organisms that respond to light, gravity and touch. I learnt about it in my Biology class. I actually got an A in that class. So eating vegetables could also be considered wrong."

Sadie does not like this. She starts calling Abrianna a murderer. Abrianna rolls her eyes. Carmen and Mac turn their bodies away from them, not wanting to continue the discussion.

"Hey, I have canines. That means I am expected to eat meat in my diet. It is my choice on what I eat."

Sadie is not happy. She starts to go into a long winded rant but Logan cannot hear it over Dick's own rant. Dick does not like the idea of anyone telling him he can't have his steak.

The scene ends with Sadie leaving the table in a huff.

After dinner the girls are shown forming small groups and congregating all over the house to gossip. Logan finds most of the conversations shown boring and can't work out why Dick keeps making noises. He then concentrates more on the footage and realises that most of the girls are wearing singlet tops, some without a bra! He becomes less bored. He and Dick act like typical teenage boys as they watch the girls getting ready for bed.

The show goes to another break. Dick doesn't say anything but leaves the room. He comes back in just as the show comes back on and hands Logan a can of cola. He cackles as Logan opens it, spraying cola all over his shirt. As Logan takes off his shirt, showing off that he is starting to get a six pack, he shakes his head. You would think after being friends with Dick for four years he would remember that Dick's favourite trick is to shake up cans (either soda or beer) so when his friends open them it all comes fizzing out.

The show opens again showing a darkened room. There is silence until, "URRRRRGGGGRRRRRR."

The noise startles both Logan and Dick. Unfortunately, more soda is splashed around the room as Dick spits out the mouthful of drink he had just drunk.

"What the hell?" He asks, choking.

The noise sounds like a cross between a jet and a chainsaw.

"URRRRRGGGGGRRRRR."

The noise is repeated and both Dick and Logan are amazed when the camera pans to a bed and shows Sadie with her mouth open, emitting that horrible snorting sound.

A pillow flies through the darkness and hits her, but it just causes her to grunt and move a bit.

"How are we supposed to sleep through that?" Ali Lee asks, sobbing. Veronica is also in the room and looks like she is about to join Ali Lee in the sobbing. Macy is also awake, but Logan is amazed to see that the other girl in the room is sleeping through it.

The other girls are shown trying to block out the noise, shoving their pillows and doonas over their heads to try and block out the noise. Logan can feel himself becoming annoyed at the noise, and he is sure it has been muffled through the television. He can't believe he actually feels sorry for Veronica. He watches as Sadie suddenly snorts and turns over. There is silence. Macy, Ali Lee and Veronica look at each other in relief and then lay down. Even Dick groans with the girls when Sadie starts snoring again.

"It's like she swallowed a lawn mower!" Macy grumbles on screen.

"No, a chain saw." Veronica argues grumpily.

"Don't care what. We need it to stop!" Ali Lee almost screams.

Macy grabs her pillow and doona and stalks out of the room. Veronica and Ali Lee follow her where they settle on the lounges in the living room. The camera shows them finally sleeping peacefully. Logan tries not to think about how innocent Veronica looks when she is sleeping.

Voice over of Miranda: "The next day the girls head off to their first challenge."

Shot of the pink hummer pulling up at a dance studio in LA. The girls are shown exiting the car and running up stairs and then standing in a group in a large rectangular studio which has windows down one side and mirrors the full length of the other wall. They clap and squeal as Pauly enters the room.

Logan wonders if it is spontaneous clapping, or if the producers have made the girls clap and squeal. Looking at Veronica's face, he suspects the latter, as he has seen the fake smile on Veronica's face before as she pretends to like someone (though this was before Lilly died. She doesn't hide her distain for the others at school anymore).

"Welcome girls. Today, you will be learning how to move your bodies. Models need to pose in a variety of positions and if you are uncomfortable in your body, these poses are going to look uncomfortable. To start, I need you to change into your outfits to ensure you can move freely. Go to the change room and change into your outfits and come back here as quick as possible." Pauly says in a sneering voice. Logan decides he really doesn't like him.

The footage changes to show the girls entering the room, now dressed in their supplied outfits. Logan swallows deeply. He picks Veronica out of the group of girls automatically and he is amazed at what he sees. She is wearing a flesh coloured leotard which enhances her figure. He can see all her small curves, the outline of her perfectly formed breasts, her flat stomach and the swell of her hips and butt. He feels a tightening in his groin.

Dick is panting at the fact he can see some of the girls brightly coloured underwear under the leotard, so Logan feels he doesn't have to hide the tent in his shorts.

"Well, here is the first lesson of the competition. The wrong underwear can spoil the look of an outfit. A designer looking for someone to model their clothes should not be given any reason to say no. So, ONLY WEAR FLESH COLOURED UNDERWEAR!" Pauly scolds. A lot of the girls turn red, and a couple look down in embarrassment.

"For those girls not wearing flesh coloured underwear, please leave the room and change into the new pairs we have provided for you. You will all be given new pairs to have in the competition."

Most of the girls leave the room but Veronica is one of the girls left in the room. The camera focuses even more on her and Logan has to hold in a groan. Why does she have to look so perfect?

"Whoa. Ronnie looks hot. Man, no wonder so many have tapped that." Dick comments.

Logan feels a hot rage come over him. No one is touching Veronica. He made sure of that. By spreading the disease rumours and making sure she has become a pariah at school, no guy should want to touch her for risk of disease and becoming social outcasts.

When his vision clears the other girls have re-entered and have been introduced to the famous contemporary chorographer Natalie Harry. Logan knows her as she had choreographed a movie his mother and father had been in. She moves gracefully but is still striking. She is tall, thin and has well defined muscles. He has always seen her with her blond hair pulled back tightly into a high bun, except for those days when she had private 'dance' lessons with his father. Then it was left out and was long and messy.

"Girls, welcome to my studio. Today I will be teaching you the basics of dancing and movement. It is imperative that you listen, watch and learn today. If you try, I promise you that you will leave here with a lot of knowledge to help you with this competition." Natalie says.

The girls are position throughout the studio and start to warm up. The girls stretch. Dick groans as there is footage of the girls bending over. Both boys watch the view in silence as the girls are taught the moves to a dance.

Voice over of Miranda: "What the girls don't know is they are also being judged here on their natural talent, their ability to learn, their grace and their enthusiasm."

The camera footage shows a few of the girls struggling. Some look frustrated but others are treating the whole thing as a joke. Sadie and Mallory are shown rolling their eyes and giggling at other girls. Logan and Dick are not surprised to see Veronica helping two other girls to learn the dance. Before Lilly died, she had always helped the new kids find their way around school, if any of the 09ers were in threat of failing (and they actually wanted to do the hard work) they went to Veronica for tutoring. She always looked after the ones she cared about. Then Lilly died and she turned her back on all of them. Why would she choose her dad?

"That's our Ronnie." Dick comments. "You know, I haven't got higher than a D since she stopped helping me study?"

Logan startles. Dick is staring at the screen with a sad look on his face. Logan starts to say something but is distracted by the next scene. The footage shows Mac jerkily performing the steps and then focuses on a group of girls laughing. The camera shows Jackie sitting with Mallory, Sadie, Parker and Jazmin.

"Oh look, I wonder if you get extra points for doing the 'Robot'?" Jackie sneers. The girls around her laugh hysterically.

When the footage show Abrianna forgetting what step to do next, the comments get nastier. "With an elephant nose like that, you would think she would have a memory like an elephant. But no, she can't remember a simple routine." Dick looks confused so Logan explains, "an elephant never forgets."

"Oh, but her nose is not that big."

The girls turn their attention to Krystal and Veronica.

"Look at the goody, goodies." Sadie says. "Trying to win the crown of 'Miss Congeniality'. If I was them I'd concentrate on improving themselves. "

"Yeah, that Veronica has slept with her school's whole swim team", Jazmin adds, making Logan and Dick blush with embarrassment. They never thought the rumours would continue to persist. The footage then shows Veronica bending over, as she continues to help Abrianna learn the routine.

"Just don't stop." Krystal tells Abrianna. "If you forget a step, just keep going. Repeat the last step until you know the next step you can do. It is better that you are wrong than to just stop and stand there." She smiles at Abrianna and Mac.

Pauly re-enters the room. "Girls, let's see how much you have learnt. Each of you will be dance the routine by yourself. However, the challenge for you is to add an ending to the dance that you think will create the best picture for the photographer who will be here taking photos. The winner will be decided by Natalie and I. Natalie, will you tell the girls what the winner will win?" Pauly announces.

"She will win a diamond bracelet from..." the rest of her sentence is drowned out by the screams from the girls.

Jackie is the first girl to dance. She performs well, remembering all the moves. Yet Mallory and Sadie mock her under their breaths the entire time. "Sexy and she know it." While most of the girls ignore them, Parker and Jazmin join in with their giggling. Jackie's photo is ordinary.

The camera shows Jackie sitting in front of a black curtain. "I did amazingly. I have always been good at dancing, so this was not a hard challenge. Watching the rest of the girls showed me that I really didn't have much competition."

The boys watch the montage of the girls dancing. While most, like Jackie, are forgettable, there are some who stand out. Sandy is very graceful and looks like a professional dancer. Her photo makes her look like she is flying through the air.

The footage shows her sitting in front of the curtain explaining that she had been taking dancing lesson since she was 4. This is followed by footage of Mac dancing. She knows all the moves, but performs them with a definite robot like jerks. Sadie is shown sitting in front of the curtain. She moves her hands in a robot dance moves and laughs hysterically. "Why try when you are so bad?" she asks.

Veronica performs well, but her face in her photo shows her concentration. Logan feels disappointed. He wanted her to do better.

Abrianna looks nervous. She starts moving and looks graceful but then she stumbles over a step. You can see the panic on Abrianna's face as she forgets the next step repeats the start of the dance again until she remembers the steps. She then dances the correct steps until the end.

In front of the curtain she explains how she was feeling. "When I first forgot the steps, yeah, I freaked out. But then I remembered what Krystal and Veronica told me. I didn't want to let them down, and I definitely didn't want to let myself down."

Logan finds it more humorous to watch Mallory and Sadie. For two girls to have the gall to laugh at the other girls attempts, they are horrible. They stop mid way through the routine when they forget the steps and just smirk as if it is the funniest thing. Natalie does not look impressed.

Jackie makes comments to Parker and Jazmin about 'Practicing making perfect, and they definitely needed practice. This causes Parker and Jazmin to laugh and Mallory to turn red.

"Well girls, Natalie and I have made a decision based on how well you performed the routine and how well your photo came out. But first a few comments." Pauly smirks at the girls.

"Most of you showed promise. Just a reminder to Veronica, Jackie and Ali Lee, keep your face relaxed. We could see in your photos exactly how worried you were about making a mistake. Try not to be so obvious with your thoughts." Logan thinks this is fair criticism.

"Others of you need to practice moving your bodies in front of the mirror. You need to get used to moving your body. While it may not feel natural at the moment, with repetition it will become more natural to you." It is pretty obvious he looks straight at Mac as he says this.

"Sadie and Mallory, your efforts to this task showed in your performance. As Natalie reported to me, you decided that this task was benefit you and took no time or effort in learning the dance. When it came time to perform it, you stood still, looking like stunned mullets. Do you think a potential client would hire you after that show?" He glared at them and they had the grace to look embarrassed.

"Abrianna, you showed us exactly what to do when you misstep. You did not stop and make it obvious that you had made a mistake; you kept on trying and moving. If you continue to do this in the competition, you will go far." He actually smiles at Abrianna who looks delighted at the compliment.

"Yet, there was one who really stood out. She showed that she has the needed knowledge of her body to appear natural, and she produced a wonderful natural photo. Congratulations... Sandy!"

Sandy squeals in absolute delight, tears forming in her eyes. Her smile though spreads right across her face. Most girls join in with clapping Sandy, but the camera focuses on the sour faces of Sadie and Mallory.

The shot changes to Sandy in front of the curtain. "I have never won something this beautiful." She says to the camera, holding up her wrist with the diamond bracelet clasped around it. "I think some of the girls are jealous but most seem happy for me."

The show pauses for an ad break.

"Why didn't you tell me you need help with school?" asks Logan to Dick.

"I don't know, Ronnie just always knew. Even in 4th grade she would just know and would create games to help me learn my spelling words. I guess I just got used to not having to ask for help." He looks at Logan and obviously misinterprets the expression on Logan's face. "But hey, why would I miss that slut helping me. I mean, she did betray you and Duncan."

Logan in fact is feeling guilty. While he had been friends with Veronica since he was 12, and Duncan since kindergarten, it had never occurred to him that Veronica and Dick had been friends for much longer. As he thought about it, he realised that most of his friends, especially Dick and Luke, had been friends with Veronica for years. It really must have hurt her to have them not stick up for her. The guilt starts to overwhelm him, so he stands up and heads for the bar, deciding to drown the feelings with alcohol, a method he has been using a lot lately.

The show comes back on to show a darkened room.

"URRRRRGGGGRRRRRR."

"Oh My God! This girl's snoring is worst than Maddie when she has a cold and is hung over!" Dick exclaims.

The camera pans across the room from Ali Lee who is sobbing, to Veronica who looks like she is about to start.

"That's it! I am stopping this!" Macy says.

"I don't think you should be mean. It is not like she is doing it on purpose." Veronica whispers. Logan feels a stab of pain as it reminds him greatly of Veronica trying to keep Lilly in line. Macy's smile does nothing to diminish the thoughts of Lilly. It reminds Logan alarmingly of the smile Lilly used just before Celeste found out.

He and Dick watch laughing as Macy forces her face to become slack and her eyes to become glassy. She walks up and down the room mumbling to herself in the manner of a sleep walker. Sadie wakes up immediately in terror as Macy slides into her bed.

"Mummy and Daddy, I had a scary nightmare." Macy mumbles to Sadie, before pushing Sadie over and out of the bed. Dick is laughing so hard he is almost choking.

"What the hell?" Sadie starts to yell but is interrupted by Veronica. "Oh thank goodness. She must sleep walk. But at least she is in bed now. You don't mind swapping beds do you?" Veronica asks. Logan is amazed at her acting ability. She looks concerned and absolutely innocent. If it was between his Dad and Veronica, he would give the Oscar to her.

Sadie frowns and takes a deep breath.

"You can have her bed. There, all fixed." Veronica moves back to bed smiling calmly. The footage changes to show Macy, Ali Lee and Veronica sleeping peacefully. Sadie is tossing and turning.

Macy sits in front of the black curtain. "OK, it was mean of me to play that trick, but really, no one was hurt. Yes, Sadie didn't sleep well, but that is because she decided to be angry. If I had really been sleep walking and got into bed with someone like Veronica and Ali Lee, they would have just moved to the other bed and probably slept OK."

The show then shows footage of Sadie. "What a FREAK. Sleep walkers, sleep talkers and snorers are so selfish. Don't they understand that people need their beauty sleep?"

Logan has to laugh at this. "Man, the editors of the show must have rubbed their hands in absolute joy when she said that."

Voice over of Miranda: "The next day the girls head out for their first photo shoot. They have no idea where they will be going."

Footage is shown of the girls watch the scenery out the window of the pink hummer, trying to guess where they are going.

"We are heading to San Diego." Mac says excitedly. The other girls squeal. The car pulls up at San Diego Zoo. The girls then are shown standing in two lines in a green leafy area. The girls smile, squeal and clap as Jake walks down a nearby path.

"Welcome girls to your first photo shoot. I will be your shoot director for the contest. Today I have the privilege of introducing you to your photographer. He has shot many famous models, including our own Miranda McPherson and his pictures have been shown in many different publications around the world. Girls, may I present to you, Will Anders."

Logan whistles impressed. Will Anders may look like Danny Devito, but, like Danny Devito, he is actually quite powerful due to his impressive work. One of Logan's favourite photos of his mother is one Will took. She has it hanging in her bedroom in the Neptune house. (Hey, if Aaron can have his face hanging all over his houses, then Lynn can have her photo hanging in her bedroom).

"Hello Girls. I am sure you are wondering why you are here at the zoo. Today you will be posing with various animals, fashioned as that animal. The aim is for you to take on the personality of the animal assigned to you, but still look fashionable." Will says smiling at the girls.

The footage shows the girls splitting up. Some head off and ohh and ahh over the animals and others head off to make up. There are shots of the girls in tight leotards getting body paint sprayed on them. Logan looks to the ceiling and asks himself what he had done to deserve this as Veronica's trim and taunt body is shown being spray painted.

"_Oh, shut up and enjoy it. I know this is a wish come true_." Lilly's voice answers. Logan just sighs. It is a catch 22. Use alcohol to mask your feelings or hear you dead ex-girlfriend's voice all the time. He will choose hearing Lilly every time.

Abrianna is shown transformed into a gorilla. Logan is surprised. She does and doesn't look like a gorilla. It is not like she is wearing a bulky gorilla suit, but she still has a lot of hair added to her body so you can tell she is supposed to be a monkey of some sort. It is the way she poses that makes her look like a gorilla. She looks edgy. It actually reminds Logan a bit of a futuristic 'Planet of the Apes' scenario. It is obvious that Jake and Will are impressed, even without them talking to the camera and saying that.

Logan swallows suddenly as Veronica is shown on screen as a Bobcat. A Bobcat! He has been obsessed with them since he woke up outside one morning at the mountain house to find one staring over him. It hadn't been scared. It was just watching him. Appraising him to see if he was a predator or prey. When it had run off, it had moved with grace, but with an undercurrent of immense strength. Veronica looks slightly like a bobcat. A sexy bobcat.

Jake greets Veronica as she hesitantly approaches the enclosure. "Veronica, you will be posing around the rocks you can see behind you. You will be posing with a bobcat, but the zoo keepers will be close by and this bobcat has been raised by the keepers so he is considered quite tame."

Will Anders joins them. "What I want to see is the characteristics of the bobcat reflected in your photo. You do not have to worry about the animal, just pose as if it is not there."

After entering the enclosure she crouches down on all fours in a typical cat pose.

"Come on Ronnie! That's boring." Dick yells at the screen. Logan is not sure Dick realises that Veronica can't hear him, especially when she change her pose to become more cat like. She then turns to the side and she freezes with her head turned slightly, a calculating watchful expression on her face.

"Yes Veronica. More like that." Will calls out to her.

"Can I get closer to the rocks?" she asks. Will nods yes. Veronica moves over to the rocks and gets up on her legs. She stretches out her body and scrapes her claw like nails down the rock face. Her back is arched, jutting out both her butt and breasts. Logan and Dick move as one to grab a cushion to rest in their laps. Veronica looks both catlike but also incredible sexy. Her last pose is her lying across the rocks looking lazy. As he watches Veronica pose, it occurs to him that Veronica encompasses this as well. She watches everyone and makes decisions on what she sees. She is not typically beautiful but moves with grace and she has proven to him lately that she has strength to stand up to him.

Dick and Logan both know she is safe for this week. It is a relief to watch the other girl's photo shoots.

Ali Lee poses as a Giant Panda. She has to be directed into her poses, but as soon as Will asks her to do something, she seems to know exactly how he wants her to pose.

Macy poses as a Tiger. She bares her teeth and concentrates on the strength of the predator. Jake is impressed. Jackie as a jaguar is also great. Her poses are sleek, but her sly personality also comes through in her poses, making them even more striking.

Mallory is an elephant. She is supposed to pose with the elephant but all her poses come off as stiff and unnatural. The best thing about the photo shoot is when the elephant waves its trunk around and knocks her over. This causes Dick to laugh, especially since the fall knocks her fake trunk off.

Carmen is painted pink and covered in pink feathers. She poses in the middle of a pond full of flamingos. As Dick points out, her scream of shock when she first enters the water must indicate it is cold as her body reacts to the sudden chill. Throughout the screen time of her photo shoot, Dick is on 'Nipple notice' counting 14 shots. Logan realises as they move onto the next girl, he has no idea how she did.

'Mac' is made up to be a bald eagle. She obviously has no idea how to pose and needs to be directed for each shoot. It obviously frustrates her, Will and Jake and she leaves the set in tears, angry that she doesn't know how to pose.

The show moves to an ad break. Dick is obviously still excited about 'Nipple Notice', talking incessantly about it. Logan is relieved when an ad for Bonds underwear comes on. The one with the girls wearing just their underwear dance around in sync. Dick falls silent as he is hypnotised by the dancing girls. It is Logan's favourite ad as well.

The show comes back on to show Krystal in tears. She is being made up as a snake and she is trying to hold in her sobs. She explains to her makeup artist that she is very afraid of snakes. She always avoids the reptile exhibits at the zoo because of this. The thought of posing with a snake makes her shiver in fear. Dick joins her with this action. He is also terrified with snakes.

He and Logan watch in anticipation as Krystal heads to her photo shoot. She is trembling and is frantically trying to calm herself down. However, when the zoo keeper holding the python she is supposed to be posing with approaches her, she can't stop the scream of fright escaping her lips. Logan hasn't seen anyone as scared as Krystal is at that moment since he told Trina that Aaron had cancelled her credit card.

Jake and Will talk to Krystal for awhile about the need to overcome fears. Krystal nods and tries to stop crying. In the end Will and Jake leave her to go and shoot the next girl. The camera pans on Krystal tightly holding the hand of her makeup artist reaching out her other hand to try and touch the python which is wrapped around the zoo keeper.

Parker has been transformed into a polar bear. She poses on the ice with a polar bear in the background. Her poses are OK, but she is really needy. She is constantly asking Jake and Will if she is doing OK and if her pose is good, should she move her arm back more? Logan wonders if Jake and Will find it as annoying as he does?

Sandy is shown next and she is brilliant. With every pose she looks more and more like a meerkat. She stretches her body out, widens her eyes and hangs her hands in front of her. She should look stupid, but she has a grace which makes it look striking. Even lying down she looked like a meerkat. Will and Jake don't hold back with their praise.

The next girl is Jazmin. Dick has fallen back to his old habit of thinking the people on the screen can hear him. "Extend your neck! Lift your chin. You are a giraffe. Do not look down."

Logan has to agree with him. She is not getting the concept at all. It is like Jake says. She uses poses straight from modelling 101. What sort of animal poses with their hands up behind their head?

The next girl is Sadie. She has been transformed into a bird. She is lecturing her makeup artist on how animals should not be kept in cages. She asks if the feathers being stuck onto her are real or fake. Logan is pretty sure the makeup artist is lying when she says fake.

Sadie continues her lecture as her photo shoot continues. For someone who 'loves' animals, she has no idea how to pose like a bird. Dick is standing in front of the TV. with his arms outstretched like a bird flying, berating her for not even doing the obvious. Sadie is more interested in setting the lorikeet she is posing with free. After the second time the zoo keepers on set call time out. They point out that freeing a bird bred in captivity into the wild gives it no chance of survival. Also, releasing it inside is not freeing it.

Logan has to laugh at that. Even Dick has more sense than that!

In the end, Sadie decides that she has got a great shot and huffs off midway through her shot. She has not impressed Jake, Will or the zoo keepers. Dick (once again thinking that they can hear him in TV land) is calling for her to be evicted.

The show returns to Krystal. She has stopped crying. She is still shaking but has obviously won the respect of the zoo keepers. She lies on the ground in a snake like manner and they drape the python quickly over her. She gasps but schools her face to not show her fear. In the end, despite her fear, Logan is sure she has got a good shot and unlike others, she actually looks animal like.

The girls are shown leaving the zoo and discussing who did well and who didn't. Logan and Dick laugh over some of the girls who were really bad who think they did well. Dick thinks it will be between Sadie and Jazmin going home while Logan has his money on Sadie or Mallory in the bottom two. Both of them put $50 on the table.

The girls enter the judging the room and stand in two lines. Veronica is in the front row and it shocks Logan at how much she looks like a model in her jeans and black singlet top. The judges march in and all sit down except for Miranda who remains standing.

"Good Evening girls. Welcome to your first Judging Panel. May I introduce you to your first judge, Pauly Gale, ex model and your runway coach. He is in charge of teaching you how to move" she introduces. Pauly just nods at the girls. "Next is Jake, ex model and your photo shoot director. He will try and ensure that you achieve the best shot you can." Jake smiles broadly at the girls and says hello. "And tonight, your guest judges are the talented dancer and choreographer Natalie Harry and your photographer Will Anders. " Natalie and Will smile at the girls.

"The winner will receive a one year contract with the modelling agency 'Ruby's Model Management', a cover and 5 page spread in the magazine 'Oui', a brand new car and $500 000." Miranda announces. It is when Miranda rehashes what the girls have done as challenges for the last few days that Dick looses it.

"We know! Just tell me if Ronnie made it through or not." He yells at the screen. He notices Logan looking at him. "Hey, she is a skank, but she is our skank, you know?"

Logan does not answer but returns his gaze to the screen where they have started the individual evaluations. Abrianna is standing at the front and they are complimenting her on her attitude to the dancing task. They are really impressed that when she forgot her steps she kept going. Abrianna smiles and tells the judges that she couldn't have done it without the help from Krystal and Veronica. Logan is glad to see that the judges also throw an impressed look at these two girls. The photo from the shoot is put up on a screen to the side of the room. Logan is impressed. The shot they have chosen makes her look very regal and powerful, just like the gorilla standing at the back of the shot.

Ali Lee is called up next. She is very timid with her answers. Her photo is impressive though. While her body wasn't in the best pose (something that Pauly takes great joy in pointing out) her face is gorgeous with its porcelain skin and wide innocent eyes. Logan knows she is safe.

Nipple girl (Logan knows that Carmen is forever going to be called that by Dick) has also produced a good photo. While she is surrounded by flamingos in her shot, she still manages to stand out.

Jackie is judged next. She strides confidently to the front. It is obvious that she expects praise, and she does get it from the judges as her photo as a jaguar is great. Dick is not a fan of her. Logan has no idea why.

Jazmin cries when the judges critique her photo. But as Dick points out, even he knew that for a giraffe photo shoot you need to stretch out your neck. He is not sympathetic.

Krystal is obviously nervous at facing the judges. When they question her about it she apologises for being such a problem at the photo shoot. Pauly cruelly tells Krystal that there is snake behind her. While it is funny to see her scream and basically jump up on the judge's table, it also shows how scared she really is of snakes. A few of the other girls also cannot hide their shivers of repulsion. Once Miranda coaxes Krystal off the table (Logan is pretty sure she also elbows Pauly in the ribs as she helps Krystal down) they show her photo. It is actually really good and all the judges (well, except Pauly) comment on how overcoming your fears to get a good shot is key to being a great model. Krystal looks happier as she returns to her place in the line.

The girl with the blue streak in her hair is next to be evaluated. Mac was obviously frustrated with how she had done but somehow that worked in her shot of her as a Bald Eagle. The judges comment at how different she looks from the photo to in person.

Macy is another girl who is confident. Her Tiger shot is good, but there is nothing outstanding about it. (Yes, Logan and Dick do realise that they are also judging the girls, but hey, they are experts at judging girls. They have been doing it for years).

Mallory is not happy with her critique. Her photo looks stiff and unnatural. The elephant is definitely the star of the shot. Unlike Jazmin who cried, Mallory just scowls.

Parker produces a good shot, but both Will and Jake tell her that it was because she needed to be directed so much. While you need to listen to the photographer, you also need to give the photographer something to work with. Logan knows that while Parker nods like she understands, she really has no idea.

Sadie's evaluation is memorable, but for all the wrong reasons. She has a vacant look on her face and her body looks stumpy in her photo. There is no lorikeet in the photo with her. The judges make mention about her behaviour at the photo shoot being unprofessional, but they do not expand on it. Sadie is angry and tries to argue with them but Will shuts her up saying that the worse thing she can do as a model is to be considered so unprofessional that a photographer will not work with her. Sadie sulks back to her spot.

"Burn!" Dick yells, making a hand gesture to go with it. Logan has to laugh.

Sandy is next and Miranda comments on the fact that she won the first challenge. Sandy shows the other judges her diamond bracelet. She is extremely proud of her photo, which looks graceful and remarkably a lot like a meerkat.

"Last is Veronica." Miranda announces.

Veronica walks down the middle of the room and stops on the mark in front of the judges. She smiles at them.

"Veronica, how did you find the photo shoot?" Miranda asked her.

"It was good. I didn't know much about Bobcats but they are really interesting animals."

"Do you want to see how your photo turned out?"

Veronica just nods.

The photo that appears on the screen makes Logan and Dick gasp. She doesn't look like the 'Ronnie' they know. She looks taller, more graceful but also powerful. As Dick says "Man, Ronnie looks HOT!" The judges are also impressed.

"Wow. I love how you stretched your body out." Natalie says.

"I really enjoyed working with you," Will says, "you had some really good ideas for poses and you took instruction well."

"Hmmm." Pauly has to be slightly negative. "You need to concentrate on your face. In some frames it looked a bit stiff."

"Booooooooooo!" Dick drones out. Even Logan feels anger at Pauly for being so negative about his girl. Well not his girl, but... He decides to push this thought to the back of his brain and to just keep watching.

"Thanks Veronica." Miranda says. Veronica turns and walks back to her place.

"Girls, it is now time for the judges to deliberate. When you come back, 12 of you will be closer to their dream of being the Newest Supermodel and one of you will be going home.

The show goes to an ad. Dick is almost jumping with excitement. Logan doesn't know if he is excited to find out if Veronica makes it or to see if he wins the money.

The show come back with the judges saying that they have made a decision and that they need to call the girls back in so they can inform them of this decision.

The girls return looking nervous. Miranda announces to the room, "The first person who will be continuing with their dream of becoming a Supermodel is..."

Dick is leaning forward. Logan is sure he is turning blue as he is holding his breath in anticipation.

"Sandy." Sandy walks forward in tears, so excited that she was called first. Miranda hands her the photograph of her.

"Veronica."

"YES!" Cheers Dick, punching the air. Logan can't keep the smile off his face either.

The other girls are called out slowly, one at a time until there are only Jazmin, Mallory and Sadie left. Jazmin breathes a huge sigh of relief as her name is called. Sadie and Mallory walk forward together as Logan grabs his money off the table. He is only half watching as Sadie is sent home. He is too busy rubbing Dick's nose in the fact that he was right and Dick was wrong. The closing credits are unwatched as Dick tries to wrestle the money off Logan.

That night, both Logan and Dick spend a long time in the shower. Dick's thoughts involve all the girls. Logan's, though he tries to fight it, revolves around a certain girl dressed as a bobcat.

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Please review! Comment on anything, make suggestions (if you have an idea of what a future photoshoot or challenge could be let me know). Just please review. A review is equivalent to a kiss from Logan!


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Christmas is always a busy time for me (both at work and home) and my little sister is getting married next weekend so I have been doing stuff for that as well. This is not as long a chapter as I have been writing, but I wanted to post something to let you all know that I am still writing.**

**Thanks so much to my reviewers. I tried to reply to you all but I know that when I got busy I missed some of you :( Just know I love you all. To my followers, if you haven't reviewed before, please think about it this time. I am hoping you readers will help me determine who wins challenges, or is eliminated.**

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Veronica woke up slowly and stretched her arms out. The producers had decided that the day after a judging panel would be a 'day of rest'. The only thing the 'Chaperones' had said they had to do was make sure they had a pair of black tailored pants for the next day. A few girls needed to send Alex, one of the chaperones, out to buy a pair for them. Veronica thanks Lynn again for her help shopping.

With no early start, and no jackhammer snorer, Veronica had slept deeply till late morning. The night before had been full of celebration. Sadie leaving hadn't really upset anyone. She had been so bitchy to everyone and full of judgements about what they ate that she hadn't really made any friends. As to be expected she had written a 'farewell note' to the girls. It was filled with lots of gushy clichés "I'll never forget you", "I hope you all reach for the stars" but also some really underhanded comments, "Macy, your 'sleep walking' would not be so freaky if you were more classically beautiful."

It was during this down time, out of the view of the camera, that some of the girl's real personalities were revealed. Veronica was amazed at the changes.

Jackie, who was such a bitch during the first few days of the contest, was quiet. It seemed that she didn't feel the need to make comments when they were not competing. She didn't point out the girl's flaws when they were not a possible threat to her place in the competition. She kept all of the girls in stitches while they watched the latest Connor Larkin movie as she turned her biting comments to the stars of the very poorly written movie.

"Connor Larkin is gorgeous, but how did he manage to say with a straight face 'I told you I would not be long. I have come' or 'I love you like Hugh Hefner loves his dressing gown'?"

Mallory was the opposite. She had worked out that Ali Lee was very shy so she was constantly working on increasing Ali Lee's insecurities. She constantly pointed out that Ali Lee was shorter than the average model (so was Veronica, but Veronica had ignored the insult, she had heard worse insults from Madison). She started calling Ali Lee names like 'Shortie' and 'Tiny'. She also kept bringing her glasses of milk to help strengthen her bones so she might grow taller. Mean bullying tactics on the weakest person.

Yet Ali Lee was Veronica's friend, and what Mallory didn't know was that there was nothing Veronica did better than revenge.

After finding Ali Lee crying softly in their room, Veronica surprised her with a question, "When you refuse to drink the milk, what is Mallory doing with it?"

"She is drinking it. She says she is sure that she could never be too tall. Why?" Ali Lee answered.

Veronica lets an evil looking grin cross her face. "Second question, Can you sew?"

"Yes." Ali Lee answers with a look of confusion on her face. Veronica leans forwards and whispers in her ear. "This is what we are going to do."

Ali Lee lets a grin creep across her face. She nods in agreement. Veronica then heads off to talk to Krystal.

Krystal agrees to Veronica's plan. That night, Krystal sneaks out of the Handbag room with a pair of black pants. She hands them to Veronica who grins at Krystal. She disappears back into the shoe room.

In the morning, Krystal, Veronica and Ali Lee had faint circles under their eyes and Ali Lee and Veronica had band aids on their fingers. Yet all had a sly grin on their faces. Macy picked up on it straight away.

"What are you three up to?" She asked.

Veronica answered with a smile and tilted her head towards the loud noise which was steadily getting louder. Macy and Veronica joined the crowd hovering around the open doorway of the Handbag room.

"How can they be too short?" Mallory yelled. "They were perfect yesterday."

"Alex asked you all to check yesterday to make sure you had something that you could wear. I am not going to go shopping because you couldn't be bothered to check yesterday." Jessica tells her with annoyance. "You can wear those ones."

Mallory looks at her in horror. "But they are too short! And I did check yesterday."

"So are you suggesting you grew overnight? Don't be silly." Jessica turns away from Mallory. "Girls you have 10 minutes before the car will be here," she says to the girls watching.

The girls rush to their own rooms to get ready but when they are assembled around the car, they can't hold back their sniggers. Mallory's pants are definitely too short. They are not even short enough to be called capris. They are at an awkward length.

"Hey Mallory, I have a pair of white socks if you want to borrow them." Jackie calls out to her. At the confused, questioning glances thrown at her she expands, "Since you are obviously going for a geek look."

The girls laugh as Mallory turns red. Veronica can easily imagine Mallory as an Urkel like character with white socks peeking out between her shoes and too short pants.

"Wow, I guess you really can be too tall," Ali Lee states, after prompting from Veronica and Macy.

Mallory sulks in a corner of the hummer as it makes its way to its destination. She can't even make herself smile when they pull up at a flash new department store in Beverly Hills. She and Veronica are the last two out of the hummer and Veronica is interested to see Gwen filming the front sign. Veronica assumes this will be free publicity for the store. As she walks in through the glass doors she can't hold back her gasp. Around her she can hear the gasps and squeals from her fellow contestants as they also admire the opulent decor. The double front doors open to a marble floor which is raised over the main shop floor. From here the girls can look down over the marbled cosmetic and fragrance counters where impossibly tall and thin women, with their long hair pulled back in tight buns are spraying scents and polishing gleaming exhibits. Further into the store a few glass elevators rise and descend silently, taking the sophisticated customers to the other floors. The usual seats set out around the store's floor (Keith had always called them the 'man seats' because he reckons that is where the dads and husbands end up) are black lounges which contrast with all the white marble. Veronica's eyes are taking it all in, from the elegance to the exits and stairs, when her eyes finally make it higher to the roof where impossibly large chandeliers, bright and silver, hang down.

"_Oh, is anyone else wondering what would happen if there was a 'Phantom of the Opera' moment? Could I organise for Celeste to be here?"_ Lilly's voice asks Veronica.

Veronica hides a grin, but is startled when the piano she hadn't noticed in the corner of the front entrance starts to be played. She (and from the reactions from the other girls, the rest of the contestants) are shocked to see Pauly Gale playing a complicated piece of music.

"Welcome girls." He says as he works the keys of the black piano. It is shiny and has a large crystal vase of Lilies sitting on it. "Today you will be participating in a makeup challenge. It is extremely important that you learn how to highlight your best features and hide any blemishes." He suddenly scowls as he notices Mallory rolling her eyes. "You have something to add?" he asks her, the icy tone in his voice reminding Veronica of when Celeste used to ask her when she was going home.

"Why is that important? We get our makeup done by makeup artists before our jobs." Mallory says arrogantly.

"But how will you book these jobs if you don't turn up looking your best?" Pauly dismisses Mallory and turns to introduce a very sophisticated woman who is approaching them. She looks very distant and scary, but as she starts to climb the couple of steps leading from the shop floor, she stumbles. Her cheeks turn red and she looks highly embarrassed when Juanita tells her to do the shot again.

"Girls, this is Ursula Bedingfield. She is the owner of the new makeup company, Nature's Beauty." Pauly introduces.

"Hello girls. I started my company after my little sister had an allergic reaction to makeup which you needed a chemistry degree to read the ingredients. I started researching natural ingredients to determine what was available naturally in the environment which had been used throughout history as beauty products. I discovered the benefits of tea tree oil, eucalyptus oils, hemp and cucumber. By working with technicians, I was able to produce a range of creams and soaps. I just recently bought out a new eye shadow range. The majority of the ingredients in my products are natural and none of my products are tested on animals." Ursula smiles proudly at the girls.

"The task today is to create a look that shows you to your best advantage and represents the company using the products provided. However, these products are scattered throughout the store and you have a time limit. You have to find the foundation stall then move to the next floor to put on blush, then to the next floor for the eye makeup. The last floor has the lip liners and lipsticks and glosses. You cannot take any make up from the stalls so you must be quick in your application. You will meet at the final floor within the 20 minutes or you will be disqualified. Ursula will then inspect the remaining girls to determine who wins the challenge." Pauly explains.

Veronica is worried. She didn't usually wear much makeup. Lilly had always tried to get her to wear more but unless Lilly did her makeup, Veronica barely wore any. As the other girls got ready (Parker squealing that she was glad that she had wore a pretty pink shirt as she would be able to match the colours well, Mac looked terrified and Macy was making exaggerated stretching moves).

"_Ohh! Have you ever watched one of these shows, Veronica Mars? The girls that don't do well in this challenge are the ones that try to make themselves up in a way they haven't tried before. Do your make up the way you always do. Don't try to be anyone else Veronica Mars_." Lilly scolds her.

Pauly raises his hand and then brings it down as he says "GO!"

There is immediate chaos as the girls all try to get to the first stall first. Veronica hears a scream behind her as she runs to the foundation stall but does not look back. She quickly finds her colour (OK, she did elbow someone out the way to grab it first) and tries to give her face an even colour. Juanita is counting out the timing.

"Two minutes, two and a half minutes..." She shrills out.

Out of the corner of her eye Veronica sees Jackie running towards the elevator so she drops the foundation and runs after her. She, Jackie, Macy, Carmen and Abrianna make it into the first elevator. After what felt like the longest elevator ride ever, there was a major scuffle to get out of the doors first, with Jackie and Macy actually falling over. Veronica only felt slightly guilty as she hopped over their entwined bodies.

She ran to the blush stall and stopped in confusion. She always forgot. Did blush go above the cheek bone or under? She made a split section decision and decided to put a tiny amount on the apple of her cheek. As she ran back to the elevator a couple of girls were just getting out. She ran in and pressed the button for the next floor. Just as the door was closing, Jackie squeezed in. They didn't talk as the elevator ascended to the next floor. When they got there Veronica was able to investigate what eye makeup was there a bit more calmly. Remembering Lilly's advice, she applied brown eyeliner, and then a brown eye shadow and blended it into a champagne colour. She ignored all the other girls around her and took her time, just keeping her ear out for the countdown of the time (on this floor Beth was counting down). She looked in the mirror. Her eyes looked natural and really good.

"_They look great... Now RUN_!" Lilly yells at her frantically.

Veronica looks up to see a few girls just miss the lift. She turns and runs in the opposite direction. In her head she is thanking her Dad for always teaching her to observe her surroundings. She takes the stairs two at a time, ignoring her burning calves. She makes it to the last stall and she is relieved to see she is not the last girl there. She grabs a hand full of lip glosses and looks quickly at the colours. She chooses a natural pink colour and quickly applies it to her lips. She does a quick check in the mirror before she runs for the lift. She squeezes in just before the doors close. Mac grabs her hand and Veronica can't help but flinch at her face. Mac has put on way too much blush. She looks clown like. Veronica is glad the doors open quickly. Veronica and Mac join the other girls but Parker, Jazmin, Ali Lee and Sandy are not there.

"FIVE, FOUR, THREE...!." Pauly counts down. Jazmin bursts out of the elevator just as he reaches "TWO...ONE! Time is up."

Veronica is glad to still be in the challenge but she can't help but feel sorry for Ali Lee, Parker and Sandy. The three of them have the same despondent expression on their faces once the elevator finally arrives and lets them out.

"Girls, you didn't arrive here on time so you are disqualified." Pauly announces with way to much glee. These girls move to the side while Ursula inspects the others. She moves down the line of girls slowly, carefully looking at each girl's application skills.

"Mallory, I like that you have kept to you 'Rock Star' roots, but I feel your foundation is too light and your eye makeup would be too dark for morning wear. But I love the bright red lipstick."

Mallory does not look happy with this criticism and looks like she is going to argue but Ursula has already moved onto Krystal.

"Very good Krystal. I love the glamour you have given your look. You have used some of the more sparkly eye shadows very well, without going overboard. A really good 'going out' look."

Krystal looks happy, but Ursula is moving onto Mac who looks terrified.

"Mac, obviously you don't apply makeup very often. I like the colour you have chosen for your eyes, but you have used too much blush. You just need to use a bit of colour to give your cheeks some contours." She smiles at Mac who tries to smile back but can't quite do it.

"Veronica, I really like the natural look you have created. However, I feel you played it a bit safe."

Veronica feels this is a bit unfair. Why should she have changed her look just for this show?

"Macy, your application is flawless. You obviously know what the current make up trends are. The smoky eyes and bright lipstick is wonderful. Well done."

"Abrianna, I love the way you have made up your eyes, you have made them look large and dramatic however the colour on your lips is too light. A brighter colour would look better with your darker skin tone."

Veronica has to agree with this. Abrianna's eyes look amazing!

"Jackie, like Macy you have kept to the current trend. A very good job in a very small amount of time."

"Carmen, your eye makeup is very uneven. It is apparent you have spent more time on your left eye. Try to apply make up in stages in future. If you are putting on eye liner, apply to both eyes before moving onto the shadows. But as the only girl here wearing lip liner I think you have the best lips here."

"Jazmin, you have done a great job on your eyes and lips, but you have applied your blush too heavy handed. Try using a little less powder next time."

"Girls, Ursula has inspected all of you and commented on your efforts. She is now going to tell you who has won this challenge. They will win a year's supply of Nature's Beauty Products and will also feature in a new print ad for the company." Pauly stops as the girls gasp and squeal.

"The girl who I think has done the best job and who I would love to see represent my company is..."

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**A/N: hehehehe (Evil laugh). Who will win? Review and let me know who you think! Or just tell me what you liked, disliked. Everytime you write in the box, Logan will enter you dreams and thank you from me in his own way! heheheheh**


	16. Chapter 16

AN:Yes! I am back. I am so sorry that this update took so long. I have a new boss at work, been given new responsibilities and have been doing some really long hours. On top of that, I got a huge case of writer's block. Seriously, there was a month where if I wrote more than one line a day, it was a good day. I know I rewrote a sentence at least 4 times. I am still not entirely happy with it, but I really needed to move on. I have watched so many Top Model episodes and revisited VM Season One to try and help me finish this.

I hope you are all still following this story. Thanks to my reviewers. The fact you took the time to review and let me know what you thought about my story really motivated me to keep writing. I think you are very special people.

Also... thanks to RedJane who PM'ed me (and probably everyone else on the site) to let me know about the VERONICA MARS MOVIE! For those who haven't seen this, do an internet search. So funny, especially now we know it has to happen. But this motivated me to finish this chapter and load it up. So without further ado...

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The girl who I think has done the best job and who I would love to see represent my company is...Macy." Ursula announces.

Macy forgets to be cool and squeals in excitement. Veronica joins in with some of the other girls in congratulating her. She does notice that a few girls definitely are not happy with the decision and stand back.

"Girls, if I could have your attention," Pauly calls out. Veronica and the other girls fall silent and turn towards him again. "Macy, I forgot to tell you something about your prize. You get to choose two friends to join you in the ad."

Around Veronica girls are gasping and looking at Macy in hope, yet Macy doesn't even pretend to think. "I'll take Veronica and Krystal."

Veronica can't help it. She lets out a squeal of excitement. She then has to laugh as Krystal had the same reaction at the exact same time.

Macy, Veronica and Krystal excitedly say goodbye to the other girls and are escorted out to a new car by Ursula. She explains it is an eco-friendly electric car. The girls pile in and the car heads away from the department store.

They drive to a large studio apartment. The girls only have enough time to smile excitedly at each before they are whisked away from each other. Veronica is taken to her own dressing room where a small Latino woman is waiting.

"Hi, I am Maria. I am going to do your makeup for the shoot." She introduces herself.

She motions for Veronica to sit in the chair in front of the mirror and then critically examines Veronica's face.

"Ummm. No offense, but it looks like you have just slapped your make up on in just a few minutes" she states.

Veronica laughs at Maria's honesty. "Well actually, it was 20 minutes and I was running between mascara and lip gloss."

While Maria takes off her badly applied make up and carefully and precisely applies more, Veronica describes the challenge, and then other funny moments from the contest so far (she ends up admitting what they had done to Mallory, glad that there is no camera nearby). By the time Maria has decided Veronica's make up is done, she is laughing.

"Ok, you are done. I am very glad I got to meet you Veronica. I can't wait to go home and watch the show now that I have 'insider knowledge'." Maria shows Veronica her face in the mirror and Veronica can't help but be impressed. While her makeup looks natural, it emphasises her eyes to make them look...

"_They look sexy_!" Lilly interrupts.

Maria takes Veronica out to the studio where Krystal and Macy are waiting. Veronica looks at them and is amazed that the makeup looks that they themselves had created in an incredibly short amount of time has been kept, just done much better.

The girls are given outfits to change into. Krystal is all ready for a night out, and Veronica is amazed that the normally wholesome looking girl looks so sexy. She is given a fun, flirty dark green dress to wear.

Macy's on trend makeup means that Ursula gives her a light green business suit. Veronica thinks this might look weird but, maybe unexpectedly, Macy rocks the business look.

Veronica's natural look means they dress her in tight jeans and a dark green shirt. Veronica knows that other girls might have complained about the choice but it is still tighter and more revealing than she would normally wear.

"_Wow, Veronica Mars, Lo... I mean the boys at school are going to be amazed at how hot you look_!" Lilly exclaims.

Ursula directs the three to their sets. Macy is first and her set is set up as a park. The background has a lot of leafy green plants with a park bench sitting in front of it. Macy is directed to sit on the bench with an open lunch box next to her. Ursula explains to Macy that she is a business woman on her lunch break in the city and she has escaped to the only bit of nature nearby to relax. Veronica enjoys watching Macy pose. She follows direction well but is confident enough to suggest her own. Veronica thinks that they will choose one of the poses Macy had suggested. In it she had kicked her shoes off as if they had been hurting her all day and the look on her face shows she is relishing the opportunity to be free of them.

Veronica is next and Ursula tells Veronica it is the weekend and she is on a date hiking through the woods. The set is filled with greenery, and even has fake rocks and a fake tree trunk! Veronica is told to be 'fun and flirty'.

"_As if you would go on a hike on a date_," Lilly comments.

Veronica has to admit to herself (and Lilly) that it is fun to hug the tree trunk and to hide partially behind it and peek out at her 'imaginary boyfriend'. By the end of her shoot she thinks that maybe going on a hike with a date wouldn't be too bad.

"_I agree. Especially if you went with Logan. He would have your back to a tree very quickly. Hmmm_." Lilly drools. Veronica tries to ignore that comment but the picture is already in her head. She shakes her head and focuses on Krystal's shoot.

Krystal's set is decorated like a backyard party. There are tables filled with half eaten food and empty cups and there are bushes decorated with twinkling fairy lights. Krystal is at a party and needs to pretend to dance. Veronica notices that Krystal is friendly and bubbly and follows direction well as she puts her hands up and twirls.

Veronica is sure she is not the only one sad when they are told that they are finished for the day. Ursula tells them that they will see the final shots at the judging panel. Macy is given a basket of products and they are taken back to the car. Each of them compliment the others on what a good job they did on the shoot and Krystal and Veronica thank Macy for choosing them.

This good mood quickly dissipates with the ice reception that greets them back at the Model Mansion. When Veronica, Macy and Krystal enter the lounge room they see most of the contestants lounging on the sofas talking and giggling, but as they move closer, silence fall over the group.

Veronica recognises this reaction well. She has been dealing with it since her Dad accused Jake Kane of killing Lilly. Hushed conversations which end as she approaches followed by hysterical giggling as she passes. At least it is better than having to respond to a mean comment.

"Well, look who is back. Have fun communing with nature?" Mallory smirks.

Veronica ignores her. Mallory's comments are not even half as mean as Logan's. In fact, even Madison would have been wittier in her. Why would they think they were 'communing with nature? She realises that they probably missed something.

"The photo shoot was good. It was in a studio but everyone was really nice." Macy answers. She then goes on to explain what the shoots were.

"Oh, well I hope you didn't raise your arms." Mallory interrupts. The other girls snigger, though some look a bit embarrassed and guilty.

Macy and Veronica exchange looks, but Krystal does not appear to know what is happening. She sits down next to Parker and smiles at the girls as she answers.

"Yeah, I did. I had to pretend to dance. It was fun but I wish that all of us where there. We could have had so much fun together." Krystal says nicely to them all. She then starts to question what the girls have been up to and asks Parker if she is OK after her fall. The guilt on Parker's and some of the other girl's faces proves to Veronica that the girls have been having a major bitch session without them, most of them being influenced by the meaner girls.

Unlike Krystal, Macy knows exactly what has been going on, and when Jazmin makes a comment about not choosing the right people to go with her she reacts.

"Yeah, I know that it was a close competition between Jackie and I, and I probably could have taken her as she did do her makeup really well," Jackie's face shows pride and surprise on her face before her normal bitchy mask falls back into place, "but they told me to choose two friends. I am only friends with people who I know won't talk behind my back with jealously, making mean comments to others about me, so I chose two people I know who wouldn't do that. I am sure all of you will have a chance at winning the next challenge, so look around you. Who do you think you are going to choose?" With that a few girls start to look really uneasy. "Now excuse me, I couldn't choose Mac and Ali Lee and since they are not here with the rest of you, I am going to find them and give them some of these lotions. Have a good night."

Macy stalks off and the rest of them just stare after them. Veronica notices that a lot of the girls now definitely look guilty, and the camera crew (once again it is Gwen and Lucy), are looking gleeful.

Veronica wants to follow Macy, but Sandy draws her into a conversation about the shoot. She is one of the girls who looked remorseful and when Veronica does get up to go to bed, she pulls Veronica into a hug and wishes her a 'Good night.'

Veronica knows this means that Sandy and the other girls have been talking behind her back, but is surprised she doesn't hate Sandy for what she has done. She knows that she often listened as Lilly started rumours and said mean things about other girls, not saying anything because she didn't want to upset anyone. But in the last few months since Lilly died she has realised that not standing up for friends, telling people not to talk meanly about others makes her as bad as they were.

As Veronica drifts off to sleep, it is not Lilly's voice she hears in her head. It is her own, telling her "You are not that girl anymore, Veronica Mars."

The next day the girls are woken early and told they have one hour to be ready. There is a rush to the bathroom and a few minor fights start but there is no time for anyone to really get into them as Jessica and Beth are herding them out the door to the car. The sun is just starting to rise so most girls try and get in a bit more sleep as the car drives them to their destination.

The destination is a private airport and a few of the girls can't hold back their screams of excitement as they are directed to a private plane. The plane is nothing special and the girls sign in disappointment. It is just a normal plane with cramped seats in rows of two on one side and one on the other. Veronica realises that she had been expecting something like the Kane's private jet (not that she had flown in it, but Duncan had let her on to check it out when she went to say goodbye before he and Lilly last flew to Aspen for a holiday) and kicks herself for having such lofty expectations.

The girls are not told where they are flying to, just that it will be a couple of hours. While most girls take the time to catch up on sleep, Veronica's natural curiosity kept her awake as she tried to figure out where they were going and what they would be doing.

Once the plane lands (at another private airport so Veronica STILL has no idea where they are going) they are taken to a small mini bus which has 'King's' printed on the side. The girls pile onto the bus chattering with excitement. None of them have any idea of what they are about to do.

The bus pulls off the road and through some imposing iron gates. The girls fall silent as they make their way down a long driveway surrounded by green manicured grass. The driveway leads to a large imposing sandstone building. Veronica thinks it looks like one of those private schools you only see in movies. When the bus stops in front of its large wooden doors she is happy to see that she is right. A sign to the left of the door states they have arrived at 'King's Academy'.

The girls exit the bus and form a line in front of it. They look up at the impressive old building in front of them and Veronica can't help but feel daunted. What was the photo shoot going to be of?

"_Ohhh. I know. This is going to be great. Remember what I told you_." Lilly giggles into Veronica's ear.

Veronica feels more nervous. Is it going to be a lingerie shoot? She doesn't want to do that. She finds it hard to join in with the excited squeals of the other girls as Jake exits from the double doors. He is with a tall woman dressed all in black. Veronica instantly recognises her as Donna Bean, a famous photographer who takes edgy photos with a real 'street' vibe. Her last set of photos had been of an up and coming Hollywood starlet known for her sweet disposition posing in an incredibly provocative and edgy manner. It had caused controversy, but the starlet had ended up getting a role in a movie which had been nominated for a stack of Oscars, including Best Supporting Actress.

"Welcome girls. Today you will be taking part in a photo shoot by the very well known photographer, Donna Bean." Jake introduces. "You will..."

"You will be modelling clothes by 'Lucille' and I want this to be edgy and cool." Donna Bean interrupts. "Lucille's new line is model after traditional private school uniforms, hence why we are here at King's Academy. I am interested in capturing the juxtaposition of you in the clothes against the stateliness of the school." Donna Bean finishes talking and just walks off. Jake looks surprised and even Juanita is thrown.

"Just get the girls to make up." She hisses.

The girls are shown to the gym where a group of guys are mucking around, pretending to play basket ball. The guys stop playing and just stare at the girls.

"I thought they would be hotter." A Latino looking guy says to a tall blond guy. His voice carries across the now silent gym. His team mates react quickly. Some blush and look embarrassed, a couple guys nod and the blond boy standing next to him punch him in each shoulder.

Veronica looks at her fellow competitors. She understands the guy's disappointment. Most of the girls are wearing comfortable pants (except for Mallory, she is amused to see. She is wearing a skirt), have a plain tank top on and their hair tied back simply in pony tails. They really don't look much like models. As some of the girls flounce off angrily to the locker rooms (hair and makeup have set up in the home locker room and wardrobe in the visitor locker room) she can't help but look back at the guys and smile to show that she is not insulted. Her eyes clash with the blond who smiles back at her, his interest in her apparent in his eyes. Veronica quickly hurries after the rest of the girls a blush reddening her face.

In the locker room, Mallory, Jackie and Jazmin are loudly complaining about how rude the boys at this school are. They are making it very clear that they are not impressed.

Veronica ignores them and is directed to the mirror where Marcel, one of the hairdressers runs his hands through her hair and ticks.

"Girl, you are gorgeous, but it looks like you took a hedge clipper to your hair." He frowns exaggeratedly at her.

Veronica grins back at him. Marcel was beginning to be one of her favourite person involved in the show. He is an extremely camp guy, with a fake French accent who changes his hair colour as often as his accent slips. Today his hair is bright red.

"Actually, it was a pair of 'Hello Kitty' scissors." Veronica answers with a wry grin.

"Girl, you must have been upset to cut your own hair. Was it long?" Marcel says, his accent slipping just a bit with his excitement.

"Down to here." Veronica points. Marcel looks impressed.

"It looks really edgy. Of course it may change in this contest, but you will be used to dramatic changes." Marcel tells her. Suddenly Veronica gets worried. What will they do to her?

"_Who cares, you will always be hot, Veronica Mars_." Lilly tells her. Veronica decides to worry about it when the time comes.

Marcel puts gel into Veronica's hair and spikes it up. He then spays in some black hair dye, which gives her a punk look. He sends her over to makeup where they paint her lips a dark red. Her eyes ringed in black, with her eye makeup extending up to her eyebrows. It looks weird. Veronica has to giggle to herself as she imagines the expressions of some of the 09ers if she walked in looking like this to one of their parties.

The clothes the girls are put in by wardrobe look sort of like school uniforms/outfits but are more edgy. Skirts are short, pants are torn and shirts are tight. The colours are black, grey and white. Veronica is given a pleated black and grey tartan skirt, a matching tartan bra and a white blouse. The blouse has a black collar and Veronica would love it except for the fact it only has two buttons. Thus the matching tartan bra she is given is obviously going to be on display. The fake belly ring she is given confirms her suspicions. This outfit would definitely be on her Dad's 'YOU ARE NOT LEAVING THE HOUSE IN THOSE CLOTHES' list.

"_At least you are miles away from him. When he watches it he won't be able to give you the lecture_." Lilly laughs. Veronica has to grin to herself. She has heard the 'Lilly's style of clothes doesn't have to be yours. I thought you were an individual', lecture quite a few times.

Veronica changes into her outfit. She is more exposed than she is used to, but she finds the knee socks they give her to wear with black heels a weird addition. She welcomes the robe the girls from wardrobe give her to wear while she waits for her turn. She, Macy, Jackie, Abrianna, Krystal and Parker are motioned to sit in the gym while they wait for Donna Bean to be ready to shoot them.

The girls sit on the bleachers and watch the boys playing basketball. The guys react as expected. There is less passing the ball to each other and more 'showing off'. Fancy dribbling, fancy jump shots and a lot of posing when they score. The Latino guy who insulted them is the first guy to approach the girls. He comes over and sits next to Macy and puts his arm around her, resting his hand on her shoulder.

"Well hello Ladies. I am Mario, and let me just ask, does heaven know it is missing some angels?"

Macy picks up his hand with two fingers and removes it from her shoulder, a look of distaste on her face. Jackie gives him a death stare while Parker and Krystal giggle nervously. Mario is not discouraged and turns to Parker and Krystal and starts to spout out cornier pick up lines which causes the two of them to continue giggling.

The blond guy who smiled at Veronica comes over to join his friend.

"Ladies, please excuse my friend. He doesn't get to talk to women very much, as you can see, they are in very short supply here, unless you like 60 year old Math teachers." He grins wryly. "So when he does get in the company of women he gets a bit excited. The fact that you are so hot doesn't help." He grins at the girls.

Veronica can't help smiling back at him. He takes that as encouragement and put his hand out. "Hello, I am Troy Vandergraff. And have we met before?" He asks as she shakes his hand. He then smiles wryly. "That just sounded like one of Mario's pick up lines didn't it? I don't mean it that way. You really do look familiar..." he trails off.

"Veronica. Veronica Mars." She introduces herself. Recognition washes across his face.

"Duncan's girlfriend. And Lilly's friend." He sees the shock on Veronica's face and explains further. "Our parents are friends. My Dad designed the marina at Neptune. But I have known Lils and Duncan since we were 7 and they first started coming to Aspen. Man, Lilly always talked about her 'Fabulous' friend but I didn't realise you were so hot. Duncan is really lucky."

Veronica doesn't know what to say, but Troy interprets her silence correctly.

"Sorry, I still don't know how to accept that she is gone. I really didn't believe it until I saw the video. She was always so alive and vibrant. You must miss her." He reaches out and touches her arm in the way people try and comfort others.

"More than anything," Veronica answers blinking back tears.

Troy realises he has made her upset (not the thing you want to do when you are trying to chat up a hot girl) and launches into a very humorous story which involves Lilly trying to sneak Troy and Duncan into a girl's only slumber party. Veronica subconsciously holds onto Troy's arm as she tries not to fall off the bleacher with the strength of her laughing as she imagines Troy and Duncan in dresses and heels. Troy is a very talented story maker and continues to regale Veronica with more and more outrageous stories. Unknown to Veronica, as the other girls move off to do their photo shoots, the camera crew focuses its attention on the two.

"Veronica, it is your turn." Juanita calls out, beckoning to her.

"Good luck, I'll see you after" Troy tells Veronica, as she gets up to follow Juanita.

Veronica can't help smiling back at him as she heads off behind Juanita.

Juanita leads Veronica down a corridor to where Jake is sitting in front of a monitor next to an open door. Donna Bean pokes her head out.

"Ahh, Veronica. The scenario I am giving you is that you are 'cutting class,' and are hiding out in the bathroom. I want you to think about what you think you would do in this situation." Donna instructs in her no nonsense voice. She pulls her head back out of sight. Jake looks weary but motions Veronica to enter the bathroom.

The bathroom is a mish mash of colours. The walls are tiled with different shades of blue and green with random yellow and orange tiles mixed through. The stall walls are orange and the bench the basins are situated in is tiled with orange and yellow tiles with random blue and green tiles dispersed through. It is an overwhelming splash of colour, but Veronica can see that her outfit will contrast well with all the colours.

Donna looks at Veronica expectantly. Veronica pulls her robe off and hands it to the tired, frazzled woman who has her hand out to take it. Donna motions to Veronica to start her poses. Veronica looks around frantically. How should she pose? She leans against the wall in a classic 'model' pose. Donna looks disappointed but snaps a couple of shots. Veronica quickly thinks about what to do next. She does not want to pose on the toilet, what else do you do in the bathroom?

She poses near the sinks, pretending to look in the mirror, checking her makeup. Donna calls for her assistant to bring in a lip gloss for Veronica to use.

"And a book." Veronica adds as she has an idea but then feels embarrassed. What if Donna doesn't like her idea? Donna raises her eyebrow but nods at her assistant to get a book as well.

The lip gloss is bought to Veronica and she pretends to put it on, remembering what Lilly had taught her.

"_If you want a guy to think about kissing you, draw his attention to your lips. Pout them, moisten them slightly with the tip of your tongue and then apply lip gloss_."

"Good." Donna states. Veronica turns her back to the mirror.

"Can I have the book?" She asks. Donna looks bored but motions for Veronica to be given the book. Veronica hops up on the bench, back to the mirror. She opens the book in her lap and half glances up, pretending she has been interrupted from her reading. She pretends that it is Meg who has come to find out if she is OK as she couldn't find her sitting in the Quad at lunch and has a slight grin.

"Good." Donna says snapping quickly. "Can you move your hand down a bit?"

"This is looking great." Jake adds.

Veronica continues to change her poses. She swings a leg out, she rest her head back against the mirror, she plays with her hair, she hardens her face.

Jake keeps calling out to her, "Oh I like that, that's pretty, extend your leg... great." He sounds happy.

Donna doesn't say much. "That is it. Nice to meet you Veronica. Jake send the next girl to the Hockey Field, the light should be right now." She sweeps out of the room, her assistant scurrying after her.

Veronica feels disappointed. She is unsure if she did a good job. Yes Jake was positive in his comments, but what did Donna, the photographer think? Was Jake just being nice and trying to support her even though she was crap? What were the photos going to look like?

Veronica makes her way back to the gym and change rooms so she can get out of the revealing outfit and get into something more comfortable. She is upset and sad. She doesn't want to leave the contest yet. When she gets to the gym, most of the other girls are there, flirting with the guys. Troy has apparently been waiting for Veronica to re-enter the gym as the minute she sets foot into the gym he starts to walk over to her. She sighs to herself. All she wants to do is too be alone. But the 'old' Veronica still in her can't make her be rude to Troy.

Troy comes up to her, not even bothering to hide the fact that he is checking her out from head to toe. His glance focuses on her chest, and it is then that Veronica realises that she had left her robe with Donna Bean's assistant. She instantly wants to cross her arms across her chest to hide her bra, but Lilly's voice is telling her not to.

"_Veronica Mars! A hot guy is checking you out. Don't hide your hotness. Can you imagine Log... the guys back home reactions? You can make them so jealous."_

Veronica silently scoffs at Lilly's suggestion. The guys in Neptune hate her. But Troy seems nice, and crossing her arms will probably draw his attention more to her chest so she forces herself to keep her arms by her sides. She can't force a smile onto her face though.

"How did you go?" he asks. "The girls who were before you have told us that she is very harsh. Apparently Donna Bean's idea of a compliment is to tell you it was nice to meet you." Seeing Veronica's questioning look, he explains further. "Really, that is the nicest thing she has said to any of the girls."

Veronica can't help but smile broadly at Troy, "She told me it was nice to meet me," she admits.

Troy grabs Veronica and twirls her around. "Congratulations."

Veronica lets him twirl her around once and then feels embarrassed. She barely knows this guy and she has let him touch her. Memories of Shelly's party flash into her head and suddenly she wants to be alone more than anything. She pushes at Troy's shoulder and he puts her back down. She smiles uncomfortably at him.

"Umm, I need to go get changed. Ahhh, if I don't get to see you after, it was nice meeting you." She basically scurries away from him and enters the change room. She is changing out of her outfit and into her own clothes when Macy enters the change room.

She comes over and hands Veronica a small piece of paper. "Here." Is all she says.

Veronica looks down at it. A phone number and Troy's name is written on it.

Macy smiles at Veronica. "Did you really think I would let you not get the number of the seriously hot young guy who was crushing on you?"

Veronica feels herself blush all over. She can't look Macy in the eye.

"I checked with Juanita. Getting his contact number is not against the rules, meeting up with him or contacting him during the contest is though, so I have let him know to expect a call after the contest is over."

Veronica feels so embarrassed but is secretly pleased. It was nice to be able to talk about Lilly with someone who knew her. It is something she has wished she could do with Logan and Duncan. To talk about Lilly with people who really knew Lilly, to be able to keep Lilly's memory alive.

"_Ahhhh. A cute guy has been flirting with you all day and you thinking about me? Veronica Mars, you seriously need help_." Lilly screams in annoyance. "_Have you learnt anything I tried to teach you_?

After changing, the girls are led back to the bus. The guys are there and wave goodbye, Troy winking at Veronica and making her blush a vivid red which causes her to be teased by the other girls. The conversation naturally leads into how cute Troy and his friends are, (some of the girls were lucky enough to have a few in their photo shoot), how they liked their outfit and how well they thought they had done. However, a few girls are noticeably quiet. These girls are the ones who have not (or believe they have not) performed well in their photo shoots. Mac and Ali Lee are two of the girls in this category. Veronica tries to comfort them, but she is not helped by Mallory and Jackie boasting about how well they did at theirs.

In the end, as the day turns into night, one by one the girls fall into silence and drift off to sleep. There is not much conversation when they do reach the house. Just grunts as the chaperones wake them up and lead them into the house. In fact, some girls just fall straight into bed. Veronica is really tempted to copy them, but she remembers what Lynn had told her and Lilly after she had come home from one of Aaron's red carpet premiers.

"Girls, no matter what, always remove your makeup before going to bed. Two reasons, one, it allows your skin to breath and recover, preventing the clogging of pores and two, no man like sleeping on a pillowcase covered in old make up!"

She stumbles her way to a bathroom and removes any makeup left on her face. She grunts a goodnight to the two other girls in the room (she is so tired she is not sure who they are, and really, she doesn't care) and heads back to her room. She changes into an oversize t-shirt and then flops onto her bed. She is asleep within minutes.

The girls are rudely awakened by Juanita who tells them that they have one hour before they need to be at the hotel for the judging. There is a rush to the bathroom which Veronica joins. Looking at some of the girls, Veronica once again (for what she thinks is the one hundredth time in this contest) thanks Lynn silently. There are raccoon eyes and splotches and blemishes everywhere. These girls are frantically slapping on the make up to cover up. Veronica is one of the last in the shower, so just puts on a little make up, mascara and a lip gloss and a simple black dress before she is herded out to the car with the other girls.

Knowing what to expect at the judging panel makes it a bit easier, but Veronica is still very nervous. She thinks she did ok with her photo shoot but you never know. What if everyone else had a good shoot and hers is only average? She has a long time to wait as while Juanita got them up very early, Veronica overhears a few crew members complaining that they should have sent her to also wake up Pauly.

The girls wait in the corridor of the hotel outside the judging room for 2 hours while they wait for Pauly to arrive. Mac and Ali Lee read while they wait, sitting in the corner away from the others. Krystal, Carmen, Abrianna and Sandy start practicing their runway walk while Jackie, Mallory, Parker and Jazmin watch and 'critique' them.

Veronica and Macy start a game of Poker with a few of the crew members. The guys think that it will be easy to take the money of these 'wannabe models.' They soon learn they have been seriously mistaken. Both girls can hide their emotions well and are very experienced in playing. Veronica is used to playing against her father's deputies (except Lamb, after she beat him the first time he refused to play against her ever again) while Macy has been challenging her Dad's interns for years to games (she liked seeing their superior 'I am smarter than you' expressions falter when she wipes the floor of them). The crew members are losing their money very quickly.

When Pauly arrives the girls are directed into the judge's room and the judging gets underway quickly. Unlike the week before, the girls only have to walk into the room once, and the crew are not interested in what order the girls are in. There is definite tension in the room.

"Good Evening girls." Miranda welcomes them, looking at Pauly from the corner of her eye (it is still mid day, so Veronica thinks that it is a definite dig at Pauly's lateness). "Welcome to our second judging panel. You have had a busy few days. You competed in a makeup challenge and then your photo shoot was at with Donna Bean, who is one of your judges this week." Miranda then turns around and smiles at Donna Bean. She is sitting next to Ursula who is the other judge. As Miranda introduces the judges, while she is smiling calmly and warmly, it is obvious that she is not happy with Pauly. All the other judges she gushes about the qualifications but Pauly is introduced as just "the other regular judge."

Veronica is annoyed when Pauly's only response is to smirk calmly at the camera and the girls. He is not sorry at all.

"The winner will receive a one year contract with the modelling agency 'Ruby's Model Management', a cover and 5 page spread in the magazine 'Oui', a brand new car and $500 000." Miranda continues. This time the girls are told to just look excited at the prospect of winning. Veronica thinks of putting the money towards getting out of Neptune so has no trouble with looking excited.

Miranda sits down and calls for the first girl to approach the judge's table. Macy is the lucky first one to be evaluated.

"Macy was the challenge winner." Miranda says, and the judges applaud her.

Ursula smiles at her "Macy was chosen as she knew what was on trend for make up at the moment. As the winner she was able to choose 2 friends and they will appear in 'Nature's Beauty' next ad campaign.

The photos of the three girls flash up on the screen to the side of the room. Some of the girls ooh in amazement. Veronica can't help but be proud. The photos look really professional but fun.

"Macy, Veronica and Krystal, we love these photos. "I am happy to say that the photos we took will be appearing in the latest magazines and on billboards throughout the country."

There are squeals of excitement, and while Veronica doesn't squeal, she can't help but grin widely. She can imagine her Father's excitement and pride after seeing the photo in a magazine. Even better, she imagines Madison's reaction about seeing it. She grins harder.

"And now we will see your photo." Veronica hears Miranda say and she feels a bit guilty for daydreaming and not paying attention.

Macy's photo flashes on screen. She is in a short tartan dress with a black tie and black heels. In the photo she is leaning coolly against a locker in a hallway.

"Look at your legs, they look so long." Ursula comments.

"I love the expression on your face. You look like you are staring your enemy down," Miranda comments. Veronica smiles as her friend gets positive comments.

Krystal is called up next. They comment positively on her photo of her in shorts and knee socks, holding a hockey stick in front of some playing grounds.

"Veronica." Miranda calls. Veronica strides forward, trying to hide her nerves.

"Veronica, I really liked your photo for 'Nature's Beauty'. You offered us a lot of options and it was hard to choose the best one." Ursula tells her.

"That is what you want to hear from a client, that you gave them a lot of options." Jake adds. Veronica can't help smiling.

"Let's look at your photo with Donna Bean." Miranda says.

A picture of Veronica sitting on the bench, her back against the mirror comes up. It looks like she is hiding out in the bathroom playing hooky from class.

"Wow." Is the collective gasp from the judge's table.

"Veronica, you were one of the better girl's to shoot. You were very inventive with your poses and you thought of new ones without any instructions." Donna Bean says. Veronica feels as if her face is going to crack with the width of her smile.

"_You go Girl! Told you that you were fabulous!"_ Lilly cheers.

All of the judge's comments are positive, except for Pauly who tells Veronica that he thinks she should have been sexier.

Veronica moves back to her place on the steps and listens with interest to the rest of the judges' evaluations. Krystal's photo of her in very short shorts, a tight cropped t-shirt holding a hockey stick on the hockey fields is commended due to the 'fierceness' in her eyes and expression.

Jackie has also gotten a good photo, but Veronica is not sure if she should be getting so much praise. The photo is of Jackie sitting in the principal's office with a look of disdain on her face.

"_Huh, isn't that how she always looks?"_ Lilly says, dismissing the thought that the photo is better than Veronica's.

Mac's photo was of her in front of a computer. She is facing the camera side on, in profile and her face looks absolutely gorgeous.

"Mac, your facial expression is beautiful, but you need to work on making sure your body movement and poses are more interesting. Your face is alive, but your body looks 'dead'."

Sandy gets the opposite evaluation. She is posing in a very short, sexy lab coat (very tight and Veronica is happy to see that someone else is showing as much skin as she did). Her body is tense and looks like she could be posing in a professional magazine, except her expression on her face is 'dead'.

Ali Lee's evaluation was not very good. She is posing in the Library with a book. Veronica would have thought this would be a perfect setting for Ali Lee as she is often reading, but somehow the shot does not work. She is curled up in a chair and it looks like she is reading, but her body is hiding her outfit. As Ursula tells Ali Lee, even if you look good, if the clothes don't, the client will not use your photo.

Abrianna is posing behind some bleachers. She was lucky enough to have a whole group of the guys involved in her shoot. They are standing and it looks like they are trying to convince her to go out with her. She definitely looks like she is not interested. The judges comment that they love how she is showing off the jacket blazer so well by putting her hands in the pockets and slightly pulling it out from her body.

Carmen is posing in a classroom. She is sitting at a desk, her legs to the side and crossed. As Jake says, "your legs look long, long, long!" but the judges tell her to work on her facial expressions. Her eyes look 'dead'.

Jazmin is posing in a black cheerleading like outfit. She is jumping up in a typical cheerleader pose, with a big smile on her face. Veronica thinks she looks like a cheerleader, but the judges are not so impressed. They want less cheerleader and more model. Less catalogue and more 'Vogue'.

Parker is posing in the change rooms. Somehow she has managed to shoot a great picture, however Miranda tells her she needs to make sure she has more variety in her film. Yes she got a great picture, but it was the only great picture.

Mallory strides forward confidently. Her photo is of her in the cafeteria. It is not a bad picture, but it is definitely not as good as she thinks it is. The judges don't really have much to say about it.

However, while the judges deliberate and the girls are back waiting in the corridor she acts like the judges did gush about it. She is sure she will be called first and be considered safe. She tells the other girls what she thinks they should have done. Veronica decides that Mallory and Madison would definitely be good friends.

The girls are called back in. Miranda is standing in front of the Judge's table. In her hand are the copies of the girl's photos. If you don't get a photo, you will be going home.

"Girls, the judges have deliberated and decided who will be going home. The girl who had the best photo, and will continue in this competition is..."

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AN: Who is first? Who leaves? I have no idea! So let me know who you think. Logan will be watching it next chapter so if you have any suggestions for his reactions let me know.

Basically, I am begging you for reviews. But the more reviews I get, the quicker Logan gets to watch the show!


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: **OK, I am so sorry that this took so long. I was going so well and then work got hectic (10 hour days are not fun) and with the lack or sleep and the stress, my muse just up and left me. Luckily I had so many reviews to inspire me and that helped bring her back.

Thanks to all of you who reviewed. The most I have ever got. Very inspiring and motivating. Special thanks to all the guests who review especially the guest who reviewed today and asked when the next chapter would be ready. Answer: NOW!

As always, I don't own anything, no money comes to me from writing this, but reviews are worth millions to me!

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The day of the third episode of 'Supermodel Search' Logan is in a bad mood. His father had returned home unexpectedly after his latest movie had received bad reviews. Aaron usually didn't worry so much but sales of tickets had also been down as well. This did not reflect well on the possibility of Aaron's next cheque being as high so he is in a foul mood. Logan normally would make a comment but his Mother had begged him not to upset Aaron any more than he already was.

"I need both of you to help me launch my new line and I need you... healed." Lynn had explained.

So, because he loved his mother and he didn't want to upset her (her drinking had been a lot less lately), Logan had ignored Aaron's comments about what a useless son he was and had made sure he was out of the house as much as possible. In the past couple of days he had spent so much time surfing he is sure even after numerous showers, he still has a layer of salt coating his skin.

The morning of the third episode, Logan had just put his hand on the door knob to exit the house when he heard a voice that sent chills down his spine.

"Son, where are you going? I think it is time you spent time with your family. Come join your mother and I at breakfast." Aaron said, his words sounding pleasant but said in a tone which was not.

Logan, usually quick on his feet, had not been able to think of an excuse, so had followed him to the breakfast room silently.

"Logan! I didn't realise you were up." Lynn said sweetly, only the whiteness of her knuckles on her hand holding her coffee cup showing her nervousness.

"I thought it was time our ungrateful son spent time with the people who work hard to cater for his every whim." Aaron explains, using unnecessary force on Logan's shoulders to make him sit down at the breakfast table. Lynn casually puts her hand on Logan's arm and rubs it, reminding Logan not to lose his temper. Logan swallows hard and concentrates on Lynn's soothing gesture.

"So Logan, what are your plans over summer? Wasting time surfing? Or embarrassing your father with your unruly parting? What was it last time? Oh yes, pictures of my son and his friends running naked down the main street?" Aaron is starting to show his anger.

"Well, I think you should be proud of our son. He has agreed to help me promote my new line and he is helping tutor Richard Casablancas' eldest son to help him pass Summer School. In fact, Logan, didn't you tell me you were going to help Dick with his English today. I know you don't want to spend your summer in doors but I think it is very nice of you to help your friend. Now off you go." Lynn says carefully, dismissing Logan from his father's presence cleverly. She smiled at Logan, her eyes telling Logan to get out now.

Logan stutters but agrees with this plan. He stands up and kisses his mother's cheek before escaping out the door, ignoring his father's scowl.

He jumps into his yellow X-Terra and prepares to tear out of there but a tour bus has just pulled up and is blocking the driveway. Normally, he would be tempted to ram into it, but he remembers his promise to his mother so he just gritted his teeth and called back to the house to get his dad out to pose for photos. Maybe having fans suck up to him will put him in a better mood? But the effort to not annoy his father had frayed his nerves and by the time he reaches the Casablancas house he is in a foul mood himself

"Logan, you made it." Beaver calls out as Logan enters the entertainment room of the Casablancas house.

Logan just grunts and heads to the bar, ignoring the welcoming calls from the other guys.

Beaver looks hurts and heads back to the couch. Logan feels a bit remorseful but can't bring himself to apologise. Sean doesn't help with his bad mood.

"What are you drinking?" Logan doesn't answer but Sean continues talking "Scotch? Good choice. I like your shirt. And your jeans."

"Wow Sean, could you sound any gayer?" Asks Casey, grinning at Logan trying to get him to laugh with him.

Duncan is in his now normal trance and doesn't seem to realise there is anything wrong with Logan.

Luke and Dick are too busy challenging each other to a computer game to even notice that Logan is in the room. He startles them when he sits between them "I'll challenge the winner." He tells them. It is enough to make Dick lose concentration and Luke cheers as Dick's on-screen avatar loses its head.

It takes a few hours of laughing and drinking with his friends to put Logan back into a good mood. So much so that when Dick pauses a game in the middle of a round so he can watch 'Supermodel Search' he doesn't join in the chorus of complaints.

The show opens with the unnecessary recap of what happened last week, as if there had been some dramatic revelation in which the viewers needed to remember a complicated equation of something, or that they were expected to be so unintelligent that they may have forgotten what happened. Logan expects that it is the latter case, because really, if you take out the hot girls, it was a typical reality show.

Miranda's voice over continues from the recap. "The girls have been given a day off to get over the loss of their friend from the competition." The girls are shown reading excerpts of a farewell. It was filled with lots of gushy clichés "I'll never forget you", "I hope you all reach for the stars" but also some really underhanded comments, "Macy, your 'sleep walking' would not be so freaky if you were more classically beautiful."

The boys have to laugh. It is a letter that reminds them of the girls at school. The girls also react as you would imagine, rolling eyes and sniggering quietly.

The girls are then shown watching a Connor Larkin movie, giggling. Logan scoffs at this. That movie is badly written and heavily over acted. What is so funny?

The boys watch in amazement as some of the girls real personalities were revealed in this down time.

Jackie, who was such a bitch in the first few episodes, is shown sitting by herself most of the time. The boys are shocked when the footage shows her actually complimenting one girl on the top she is wearing. It seemed that she didn't feel the need to make comments when they were not a possible threat to her place in the competition.

Mallory is the opposite. She is shown making nasty comments to some of the girls. She is shown making comments to Veronica about her height but Veronica just shrugs it off and ignores her.

Logan scoffs. Mallory is an amateur with regards to insults in comparison to him.

Mallory looks annoyed but she spots Ali Lee. Ali Lee reacts to being called names like 'Shortie' and 'Tiny'. Mallory is also shown bringing Ali Lee glasses of milk to 'help strengthen her bones so she might grow taller'.

The guys watching are conflicted. This is someone having fun using mean bullying tactics on the weakest person which is never good to see, yet their conscious is prickling as they recognise that they had done the same on a sweet girl who had just lost her best friend.

The boys watch as Veronica is shown comforting Ali Lee. Logan squirms when he recognises Veronica's evil revenge grin. He is glad he is not Mallory at the moment.

Logan is not surprised when the next bit of footage shows Mallory all upset. Logan is interested to see Veronica and Ali Lee in the background looking tired with bandaids on their fingers. He has to grin

"How can they be too short?" Mallory yelled. "They were perfect yesterday." She is holding up pants.

"So are you suggesting you grew overnight? Don't be silly." Someone says.

The girls can't hold back their sniggers and the boys have to join in as Mallory is shown wearing pants that are definitely too short.

"Hey Mallory, I have a pair of white socks if you want to borrow them." Jackie calls out to her. At the confused, questioning glances thrown at her she expands, "Since you are obviously going for a geek look."

The girls and guys laugh as Mallory turns red.

"Wow, I guess you really can be too tall," Ali Lee states.

Logan laughs. "Anyone else noticed that Veronica is wearing bandaids on her fingers?" he asks as the show goes to an ad. The boys around him exchange glances, some of them grinning in pride.

"Haha. Trust Ronnie to get revenge." Dick crows.

"Yeah, she always did stand up for her friends." Casey says before he realises what he had said. He looks worried and quickly heads to the bar not wanting anyone to start on the 'Veronica Mars betrayed us' rant.

Logan is about to but Sean beats him to it.

"No she doesn't, she like totally betrayed us. What are you talking about?" he asks.

Logan feels annoyed. When was Sean ever Veronica's friend? He glances at Duncan to see if he is annoyed as well, but he is staring at the television screen, seemingly enthralled with the washing powder ad currently playing. Logan sighs to himself. Normally just the mention of Veronica is enough to get a reaction from Duncan, but he seems determined to still pretend she doesn't exist. He ignores everyone as he takes a sip of his drink and waits for the show to come back on.

The footage shows Mallory sulking in the corner of the hummer as it makes its way to its destination. She doesn't even crack a smile when the car is shown pulling up at a flash new department store in Beverly Hills.

"Hey Logan, isn't that the store your Mum dragged you to the opening of?" Luke asks Logan as the name is shown.

"Yeah, that was fun. My father was supposed to go but a very important meeting with his personal trainer." Logan answers sarcastically. "But Mum is going to be selling her new line of swimwear there so she needed to be there. I went with her for moral support. At least they had some really comfy chairs."

"Will she be modelling this line? And can I come to watch... offer moral support too," asks Sean with a leer.

Logan feels his anger boiling up again. Then he feels a hand on his arm. Duncan gives him a 'calm down' look and just seeing Duncan act like he used to before Lilly died calmed him down and he was able to focus back on the screen.

The girls enter and ooh and ahh over the opulent decor. The girl's are startled when Pauly Gale starts playing the piano in the corner.

"Welcome girls." He says as he works the keys of the black piano. It is shiny and has a large crystal vase of Lilies sitting on it. "Today you will be participating in a makeup challenge. It is extremely important that you learn how to highlight your best features and hide any blemishes." He suddenly scowls as he notices Mallory rolling her eyes. "You have something to add?" he asks her, the icy tone in his voice reminding Logan of when Celeste used to use when she told Veronica to go home.

"Why is that important? We get our makeup done by makeup artists before our jobs." Mallory says arrogantly.

Logan rolls his eyes. How dumb are these girls?

"But how will you book these jobs if you don't turn up looking your best?" Pauly dismisses Mallory and turns to introduce a very sophisticated woman who is approaching them.

"Girls, this is Ursula Bedingfield. She is the owner of the new makeup company, Nature's Beauty." Pauly introduces.

"Hello girls. I started my company after my little sister had an allergic reaction to makeup which you needed a chemistry degree to read the ingredients. I started researching natural ingredients to determine what was available naturally in the environment which had been used throughout history as beauty products. I discovered the benefits of tea tree oil, eucalyptus oils, hemp and cucumber. By working with technicians, I was able to produce a range of creams and soaps. I just recently bought out a new eye shadow range. The majority of the ingredients in my products are natural and none of my products are tested on animals." Ursula smiles proudly at the girls.

"The task today is to create a look that shows you to your best advantage and represents the company using the products provided. However, these products are scattered throughout the store and you have a time limit. You have to find the foundation stall then move to the next floor to put on blush, then to the next floor for the eye makeup. The last floor has the lip liners and lipsticks and glosses. You cannot take any make up from the stalls so you must be quick in your application. You will meet at the final floor within the 20 minutes or you will be disqualified. Ursula will then inspect the remaining girls to determine who wins the challenge." Pauly explains.

"How is that going to help them get future jobs? It's not like they will keep their makeup normally spread out all over the place?" Luke asks.

"Who cares? Girls running and half of them aren't wearing bras!" Dick says excitedly.

Logan stares at the screen as the camera pans over the girls. Veronica and her friend Mac looks worried, the Parker chick is squealing about her shirt and Macy was making exaggerated stretching moves, making the guys chuckle.

Pauly raises his hand and then brings it down as he says "GO!"

There is immediate chaos as the girls all try to get to the first stall first. There is pushing and pulling. Mallory is very vindictive, grabbing the back of Ali Lee's shirt and pulling her out of the way, into the path of Parker. The two girls get tangled up and fall to the ground. It looks so comical and the boys continue chuckling as the girls all look very stupid, running around like idiots. Logan has to grin when Veronica elbows Mallory out of the way to grab the foundation first. That's his girl.

The girls are slapping on makeup, some better than others. Logan is happy to see Veronica make it to the first elevator with Jackie, Macy, Carmen and Abrianna. There is a major scuffle to get out of the doors first, with Jackie and Macy actually falling over. Veronica joins the other girls in hopping over their entwined bodies.

There are lots of shots of the girls applying makeup but the guys are not so interested in that. When some of the girls bend over to look in the mirrors to apply the makeup you get a good look at some of the girl's cleavage. That is why the guys are watching, desperately hoping the girls will slip and fall and have their shirts fall off.

The guys watch as Veronica just misses a lift. As one they all groan in disappointment, but Veronica has already started moving in the opposite direction. The camera crew obviously are running after her as the footage is not steady as it shows her enter the stairwell and take the stairs two at a time. Logan doesn't realise he is cheering her on until he notices Sean scowling at him in shock. Logan just shrugs his shoulders, but Dick and Beaver are cheering louder than he was anyway.

Logan is relived when Veronica makes it to the final floor and the boys watch as Jazmin makes it just in time. The three girls who are disqualified include Ali Lee and Parker, who never recovered from their fall and the camera shows Parker glaring at Mallory.

Ursula, the makeup lady inspects the others. She moves down the line of girls slowly, carefully looking at each girl's application skills. Dick does his own judging.

"Mallory looks like one of those vampire chicks. White face and red lips. Bleuh."

Logan has to agree, but then laughs as Dick apologises to the TV.

"Sorry but you look like you are going to suck my blood and I prefer other stuff sucked."

Mallory is shown scowling and it does look like she had heard Dick's critique, her face looks like Madison's when he is crude in front of her.

"Ah, Krystal. Yep, not bad but she is cute, not sexy."

When the footage changes to Mac all the boys have to laugh. Mac has really red cheeks.

"Oh the circus has come to town, it's a clown."Dick comments.

"Hey, Mac obviously doesn't wear much makeup normally, probably cause she doesn't need to wear it. She is gorgeous." Beaver defends her.

"Oh, we all know who Beaver's favourite is now." Luke teases.

Beaver looks relieved when the guy's attentions are back on the screen where a close up of Veronica is shown.

"Veronica, I really like the natural look you have created. However, I feel you played it a bit safe."

The boys react immediately. Dick starts yelling at the screen in annoyance, "What? At least she doesn't look like a clown."He glares at the rest of the guys as if they have voiced that opinion as well. All of them look a bit disgruntled, except Sean who grins at the fact that Veronica got a poor review and Duncan who is staring into space looking uncomfortable.

Logan likes how she looks. She looks like she always does so it is easy to ignore his feelings for her.

Macy is shown. Casey whistles. "Macy is H.O.T."

"Yeah, I wouldn't kick her out of my bed." Luke agrees. Dick just makes an obscene gesture which indicates what he would like to do to Macy.

The guys watch in silence until the makeup chick comments on Carmen having the 'best lips'.

"Hmmm, yeah, I like them plump too."Groans Casey.

"Nah, I think some of the other girls' lips are better." Beaver comments.

"I don't care what their lips look like unless they are around my..." Dick doesn't finish his sentence, but all of them know what he is talking about. The guys high five him or fist bump him showing their agreement.

"Girls, Ursula has inspected all of you and commented on your efforts. She is now going to tell you who has won this challenge. They will win a year's supply of Nature's Beauty Products and will also feature in a new print ad for the company." Pauly stops as the girls gasp and squeal.

"The girl who I think has done the best job and who I would love to see represent my company is..."

The boys groan as the show goes to an ad break.

"Why do they do that? Really, it is so predictable and annoying. If you like the show, you will continue watching it through the ad break. You are not going to say 'Hey, now I know who won, I am going to stop watching the rest of the show'." Casey complains

All the guys agree.

"Who do you think will win? I think Jackie." Sean says.

"Macy." Casey answers while Dick is loud in his support of Veronica. Logan is surprised. Dick had been his staunchest ally in his vendetta against Veronica. Logan doesn't know what to think about Dick's sudden change of heart with his obvious support of Veronica in the contest.

The show returns from the ad break to announce the winner.

The girl who I think has done the best job and who I would love to see represent my company is...Macy." Ursula announces.

Macy forgets to be cool and squeals in excitement. Veronica is shown congratulating her but the camera then pans to Mallory and Jackie who are definitely not happy about the decision and stand back scowling.

"Girls, if I could have your attention," Pauly calls out.

"Oh look, the mandatory 'twist'." Logan points out, rolling his eyes. "Expect gasps or squeals."

"Macy, I forgot to tell you something about your prize. You get to choose two friends to join you in the ad."

The other girls are gasping and looking at Macy in hope, yet Macy doesn't even pretend to think. "I'll take Veronica and Krystal."

"Whoa!" Dick exclaims. "Ronnie has made friends." The other guys look surprised but Logan isn't. He has always congratulated himself on the fact that he turned the whole school against Veronica. She has always had the easy knack of making friends so for her to not have any was a win for him.

The guys watch as Macy, Veronica and Krystal excitedly say goodbye to the other girls and are escorted out to an eco-friendly electric car. The girls pile in and the car heads away from the department store and arrive at a large studio.

Miranda's voice over is heard. "The girls are taken to have their makeup reapplied with more care and then to wardrobe. They are then ready for their first photo shoot with an actual client."

The footage shows Macy dressed in a light green suit. She is directed to sit on a bench in front of a set dressed like a park. There are lots of leafy green plants in the background.

Macy is directed to sit on the bench with an open lunch box next to her. Ursula explains to Macy that she is a business woman on her lunch break in the city and she has escaped to the only bit of nature nearby to relax. Macy poses next to a lunch box. She is shown pretending to eat a sandwich (Dick wonders out loud what sort it may be) and then she suggests her own pose where she kicks her shoes off as if they had been hurting her all day and the look on her face shows she is relishing the opportunity to be free of them.

Casey makes a small groan as if he is pain but none of the others pay any attention to him as they watch the next bit of footage in amazement.

Veronica is dressed in tight jeans which emphasises her perfect behind and a dark green shirt which shows a peep of cleavage. Logan feels his groin get heavy and he has to hold back a groan.

"Wow, Veronica looks so hot!" Luke exclaims staring at the screen with his mouth open.

They all watch as the makeup lady tells Veronica that it is the weekend and she is on a date hiking through the woods. The set is filled with greenery, and even has fake rocks and a fake tree trunk! Veronica is told to be 'fun and flirty'.

"As if you would go on a hike on a date," Dick comments. "What are you going to do out there?"

Logan wants to agree but watching Veronica hug the tree trunk and peeking out from behind with a flirty smile has his imagination running wild.

He can see Veronica daring him to a race and then teasing him when she wins, due to some very strategic cheating measures. Even better he imagines wiping the smile off his face as he pushes her back into the closest tree as he kisses her lips and then, as she moans, kissing a path down her neck. He will lift her up, using the tree as support, so she can wrap her legs around his waist, bringing her groin close to his.

"I guess you still think blonds are hot." Sean laughs, breaking Logan out of his daydream. Logan is startled until he looks down and sees that he has an obvious tent in his shorts. He throws a worried look at Duncan. How will he react to his best friend fanaticising over his ex?

"Hey, Krystal is hot. Leave the guy alone." Dick interrupts.

Logan realises that while his mind was on more agreeable... or disturbing thoughts (he really isn't sure), the show had moved onto showing Krystal's shoot. She is pretending to dance in a flirty green dress and looks good, but she doesn't evoke the reaction Veronica does.

He feels embarrassed, but soon realises that he is not the only guy feeling, 'uncomfortable' so his doesn't feel the need to justify himself when he leaves the room to go to the downstairs bathroom to ease his situation.

When he returns, Casey is also missing but the rest of the guys are still there. The show is in an ad break but Duncan has Sean's shirt in a tight clench and is yelling at him with his fist pulled back.

"Take that back!"

Luke is trying to insert himself between the two boys while Dick looks like he wants to join Duncan in punching the crap out of Sean. Logan looks surprised Duncan is showing some emotion, with his face flushed with rage. Logan reacts quickly and separates the two guys.

"What is going on?" he asks.

"I don't know. I was just agreeing with what the girls were saying about his skanky ex and he went crazy." Sean sneers.

Duncan is already going back into his trance but Dick goes to grab him now. "Why don't you just leave?" he yells.

Sean looks surprised but then sneers as he pulls out his phone as he heads to the door. "Yeah, I need to be picked up. No, now!" He whinges into the phone as he exits the room.

Dick waits till he leaves and then storms out of the room. Luke leads Duncan out of the room, asking if he wants a drink of water. Beaver calmly starts to record the show so they can watch it when the rest of the guys come back.

"What did I miss?" Logan asks Beaver as he sits next to him. Beaver jumps at the chance to fill Logan in.

"A few of the girls started talking trash about the girls who were at the challenge win photo shoot. Sean was agreeing with the things they were saying while Dick didn't. It was really mean stuff like because they won the natural challenge they don't shave their armpits and are all hairy, that sort of thing. But it was the comment by Mallory about them probably having sex with their brothers that sparked it all. Sean laughed and the next thing I knew, Duncan had Sean by the shirt." He explains. "Luke was trying to stop them, but I am pretty sure Dick was ready to join in."

"Why would that cause Duncan to crack?" Logan asks more to himself than Beaver. Beaver just shrugs.

After a while Logan asks where Casey is.

"He has a thing for brunettes." Beaver sees Logan's confusion. "He ... likes Macy. He went towards the upstairs bathroom."

Logan just grunts in response. A range of emotions cross Beaver's face, including uncertainty, but then settles on determination.

"You know why Dick is cheering for Veronica?" he asks.

Logan shakes his head. He is happy that he didn't have to voice the question himself.

"You know that Dick asked Veronica out?" Beaver asks Logan in a whisper. Logan looks shocked. When did that happen? He had made it clear that Veronica was off limits.

"It was just before Duncan asked her out." Beaver explains, pre-empting Logan's question. "I think the only person, other than Veronica who didn't realise that Duncan liked Veronica, was Dick. But then, he had been in love with her since the second grade."

Logan feels extreme surprise. "The second grade?" he asks, wanting more information.

"Yeah. Veronica was this tiny, blond, impish girl in first grade. Dick and her were in a composite class of 1st and 2nd graders. Dick decided she didn't have cooties like the other girls when she dressed up as a police officer for Halloween. Dick was a cowboy Sheriff and the two of them ran around pretend shooting all the other girls who had dressed up as princesses and fairies. She was also the only girl who would play soccer with the older boys. Her then helping him with school work just helped him fall harder. But he always thought she was too good for him, you know? So he kept losing confidence to ask her out." Beaver explained further, knowing exactly what emotions he was stirring in Logan.

"But he did?" questions Logan.

"Yeah, it was just after you and Lilly started going out. He saw her crying in the library and wanted to make her happy so he asked her out for ice cream that night. Man, the amount of hair gel and cologne he used!" Beaver stops to laugh quietly to himself. "He basically danced up the stairs when he got home that night. But Veronica must have told Lilly about it, because the next day Lilly came over to see Dick. I don't know what Lilly said to him, but he ignored Veronica's calls after that. He asked Madison out soon after that. But it took Duncan almost a year before he asked Veronica out after that."

Logan sits there in shock. Dick had wanted to date Veronica? But Lilly had talked him out of it? Did Veronica still like Dick? "Yeah, well, he doesn't like her anymore." He says quickly.

"Of course not. You got Lilly, Lilly ensured Duncan got Veronica and Dick got stuck with Madison and wasn't included in the 'Fab Four.' By choosing you and Duncan now, and making his hatred known he is finally included, even if it is no longer the 'Fab Four'."

Logan feels awful and has a lot of thoughts running through his mind. He has no idea which question he should ask first.

"Of course, by being in this competition, she gives Dick the perfect opportunity to cheer for her with the excuse that you have to support the local girl," Beaver says while turning to greet Casey who has finally re-emerged from the upstairs bathroom.

Logan is shocked.

"What did I miss? What are you two talking about so intently?" Casey asks as he flops on the couch.

"Probably just catching him up on what he missed while he was yanking one out in the bathroom." Luke interrupts as he enters the room with a plate full of food. Dick is behind him with even more food. "Duncan and Sean got into a fight and Sean's left." Luke explains to Casey succinctly.

"Man, I missed the action!" Casey groans as he grabs some food.

"Guess that's what happens when you go to give yourself action." Dick teases him as he flops onto the couch between Logan and Beaver. The other guys laugh, but Logan feels like his is forced.

"But seriously, how could Sean stand to see some girls who don't even know Ronnie talking trash about her? Duncan I am so glad you hit him." Dick says. Duncan has a weird look on his face that makes Logan worried that there is something wrong. He goes to ask him if he is Ok but Dick interrupts him by shoving a fist full of food into his mouth and asking "I Argh hus crack ehhh?."

The guys crack up. "Can you repeat that?" asks Casey.

"Anyone thought to record the rest of the show?" Dick repeats, spraying crumbs over them.

Beaver smiles and picks up the remote and hits play.

"Way to go Cassidy." Dick cheers. Beaver looks happy at the praise.

The show resumes showing the girls travelling to a photo shoot.

"What happened when Macy came back to the house?" asks Casey.

"No idea, it was a bit hard to see and hear over Duncan and Sean's yelling." Luke explains.

The guys watch as the girls are woken early just as the sun is starting to rise. There are shots of the girls dozing in the car. They wake up and squeal as they arrive at an airport but they soon fall back to sleep. Logan is not surprised to see that Veronica is not asleep and is obviously trying to figure out where they were going and what they would be doing.

Once the plane lands the girls are taken to a small mini bus which has 'King's' printed on the side. The girls pile onto the bus chattering with excitement. The bus pulls off the road and through some imposing iron gates. The girls fall silent as they make their way down a long driveway surrounded by green manicured grass. The driveway leads to a large imposing sandstone building.

"That's Kings Academy." Duncan exclaims in amazement. "My mother wanted me to go there. It is an all boys boarding school that is like 100 years old." He explains.

"Why didn't you go there?" asks Luke in interest.

"Umm, I got sick and she decided it would be better for me to stay near her." Duncan says, the back of his neck flushing red. He looks relieved as the guys' attention is directed back to the screen.

The girls exit the bus and form a line in front of it. They squeal as Jake exits from the double doored entrance. He is with a tall woman dressed all in black. Logan instantly recognises her as Donna Bean, a famous photographer who had taken photos of both his father and his mother. In fact, one of her photos of his father is actually hung on the wall opposite his bedroom door.

"Welcome girls. Today you will be taking part in a photo shoot by the very well known photographer, Donna Bean." Jake introduces. "You will..."

"You will be modelling clothes by 'Lucille' and I want this to be edgy and cool." Donna Bean interrupts. "Lucille's new line is model after traditional private school uniforms, hence why we are here at King's Academy. I am interested in capturing the juxtaposition of you in the clothes against the stateliness of the school." Donna Bean finishes talking and just walks off. Everyone looks slightly thrown. Logan has to grin as he remembers that Aaron had refused to work with her again as she took control of his shoot and hadn't sucked up to him.

The girls are shown to the gym where a group of guys are mucking around, pretending to play basket ball. The guys stop playing and just stare at the girls. The girls head off to the change rooms where makeup is set up. Logan feels rage building up within him when Veronica is shown smiling back at a blond guy as she walks into the locker room.

The girls are shown getting their hair and makeup done. Mallory looks annoyed and is telling one of the makeup artists how she should have her makeup done. Ali Lee is talking to one of the makeup artists about her home town.

Veronica is in a discussion with one of the hairdressers (the caption at the bottom of the screen says his name is Marcel) who is running his hands through her hair.

"Girl, you are gorgeous, but it looks like you took a hedge clipper to your hair." He frowns exaggeratedly at her. The boys snigger about his really fake accent.

Veronica grins back at him. "Actually, it was a pair of 'Hello Kitty' scissors." Veronica answers with a wry grin.

"Girl, you must have been upset to cut your own hair. Was it long?" Marcel says, his accent slipping just a bit with his excitement.

"Down to here." Veronica points. Marcel looks impressed.

Logan wonders about that. Veronica had been devastated when Lilly died, but had kept her hair long. Then one day (was it the Monday after Shelly's end of year party?) she came to school with it all cut off and a whole new wardrobe. Logan had told her she had just started dressing like her inner skank, but really he (and little Logan) had thought that Veronica's new look was hot. But what had caused her to make such a drastic change?

The girls are shown getting their hair styled in punk styles with lots of gel, black and red hair spray and weird shapes. Their eyes are coloured all the way up to their eyebrows. The guys are a bit unsure of it. Until they see the clothes. The clothes look sort of like school uniforms/outfits but are more edgy. Skirts are short, pants are torn and shirts are tight. The colours are black, grey and white. The boys are thrown into school girl fantasies at the sight.

Jazmin is wearing a black cheerleading type outfit and is bouncing up and down just like the girls at school. The boys watch as she jumps up and down, her skirt flicking up to show her underwear. They enjoy it but Jake and Donna are not so impressed.

Carmen is posing in a traditional looking school girl outfit, except for all the sequins used. She is posing at a school desk and then bending slightly over the desk. The boys enjoy her photo shoot as well, their imaginations going wild.

Ali Lee is shown struggling with her modelling. She appears stiff and uncomfortable.

"I think she would rather be left alone to read that book rather than pose with it," Casey comments and Logan has to agree. Ali Lee may have a beautiful face but modelling is obviously not like what she thought. It is actually painful to watch her.

Mallory is shown posing in the cafeteria. It is obvious that she thinks what is doing is wonderful, but both Jake and Donna Bean have to direct many of her poses. Dick is definitely not a fan of Mallory, criticizing her every move. Logan wonders if Dick doesn't like Mallory as she reminds him a bit of Madison.

The show pauses for an ad break and the boys watch as a trailer for a new action movie is shown. It is decided that they will all go and watch it together. Logan agrees to this plan as Aaron had to decline the lead role due to the producers not wanting to pay him an exorbitant amount of money. He has said that this movie will not succeed without him so Logan is quite happy to help make this movie a box office hit. Logan knows this is one battle he can win.

The show comes back from the ad break to show a few girls sitting on bleachers in the gym.

"There's V!" Casey points out to the others.

Veronica is sitting with Macy, Jackie, Abrianna, Krystal and Parker in a white robe which covers most of her outfit, except for her black heels... and knee socks. Logan suddenly feels like he has something in his throat as he has trouble swallowing.

The girls sit on the bleachers and watch the boys playing basketball. The guys are doing complicated dribbling, fancy jump shots and a lot of posing when they score.

"Who do they think they are?" asks Luke annoyed. "They are not that good."

"The girls won't be impressed with those moves." Casey says confidently, and then looks worried as the girls are approached by a Latino looking guy. He comes over and sits next to Macy and puts his arm around her, resting his hand on her shoulder.

"Well hello Ladies. I am Mario, and let me just ask, does heaven know it is missing some angels?"

Logan groans. "Could he have thought of a cornier pick up line?" he asks.

"Hey that's one of my lines." Dick protests.

"Exactly, and it doesn't work for you either." Casey adds as they watch Macy picking up his hand with two fingers and removing it from her shoulder, a look of distaste on her face. Jackie gives him a death stare and Veronica looks unimpressed. However Parker and Krystal giggle nervously so Mario focuses his attention on them and continues to spout out cornier pick up lines which causes the two of them to continue giggling.

The rest of the guys look unimpressed as they have heard most of them before. They are part of the arsenal that Dick has prepared for when Madison is being a bitch and breaks up with him (this usually co-ordinated with the times when Logan is single) and he wants to pick up.

The guys watch as a blond guy comes over to join his friend. "Ladies, please excuse my friend. He doesn't get to talk to women very much, as you can see, they are in very short supply here, unless you like 60 year old Math teachers." He grins wryly. "So when he does get in the company of women he gets a bit excited. The fact that you are so hot doesn't help." He grins at the girls.

Logan feels annoyance as Veronica smiles back at him. He wants to yell at Veronica to not encourage him but he can't. He watches as the guy introduces himself.

"Hello, I am Troy. And have we met before?" He asks as he shakes Veronica's hand.

Duncan startles at that. "Troy?" he mumbles.

All the guys swirl around and look at Duncan. "I have known him for years. He knew Lilly".

Troy smiles wryly. "That just sounded like one of Mario's pick up lines didn't it? I don't mean it that way. You really do look familiar..." he trails off.

"Veronica." She introduces herself. Recognition washes across his face and he smiles.

Duncan groans. The others look at him. "You know what Lilly was like. Who knows what she has told him about Veronica. But he did tell me one time that he hoped to meet her."

The guys watch as Troy reaches out and touches Veronica's arm. None are them are happy to see someone hitting on their Veronica.

Other girls are making friends with the guys, but the Neptune guys are only interested in watching Veronica. Teeth are clenched when they see her laughing with Troy and Duncan is digging his finger nails into his palm, he is clenching his fists so tight.

Veronica is told it is her turn.

"Good luck, I'll see you after" Troy tells Veronica, as she heads off. Logan is relieved he won't have to watch this Troy character flirt with Veronica. However his relief is short lived.

Veronica pulls her robe off. Logan takes a deep breath while he hears some groans around him. Veronica is wearing a white blouse with a black collar which is buttoned with only two buttons. It shows off her bra which matches her short pleated black and grey tartan skirt. She is also showing off a toned stomach and Logan wonders when she got her navel pierced. With her knee socks, she reminds Logan of a running fantasy he has had secretly since he first met Veronica.

He is only half watching as Veronica is given her scenario, she is 'cutting class,' and is hiding out in the bathroom.

He is not seeing her pose for the camera. He is not hearing Dick crow about how good she is and how she is going to win. He is imagining cutting class and surprising her while she is checking herself in the mirror. She will pout her lips and moisten her lips with the tip of her tongue. He will continue to moisten them until she starts to moan. He will then pick her up and spin her around so he can sit her on the bench. He will kiss her neck while he opens her legs so he can stand between them. Because she is now at a more similar height he will be able to rub his groin with hers. His groin is tightening, but then a vision breaks through his fantasy which is more effective than a cold shower.

Veronica has made her way back to the gym and Troy has apparently been waiting for Veronica to re-enter the gym he heads over to her not even bothering to hide the fact that he is checking her out from head to toe. His glance focuses on her chest. Veronica is shown grinning broadly at him and then Troy grabs Veronica and swirl her around. Logan's arousal is diminished immediately, and next to him, Duncan breaks the glass he is holding.

It is Beaver who calms the situation down. "Wow, Veronica looks really uncomfortable."

The guys watch as she smiles uncomfortably at him and scurries away to the locker room. The attention moves to another girl, Logan doesn't know which one, but he doesn't care, but in the background Logan can see Macy giving Veronica a small piece of paper. It is obvious that Veronica now has Troy's number.

The girls are shown loading back onto the bus. The guys are there and wave goodbye, Troy winking at Veronica and making her blush a vivid red which causes her to be teased by the other girls. The conversation naturally leads into how cute Troy and his friends are.

Logan and his friends scoff. They weren't that good looking. He runs his hand through his hair.

The girls continue to talk about how well (or not) they think they did. Ali Lee knows she didn't do so well, but Mallory doesn't.

"You weren't that good." Dick is telling her through the screen as she boasts to the other girls. All the guys are silent as they watch the girls fall into silence and drift off to sleep. The scene finishes showing the girls stumble into the house and fall into the beds.

An ad for makeup comes on screen. The boys turn towards Duncan and bombard him with questions.

"Duncan, what's Troy deal?" Casey asks.

"What's the 411?" Dick asks.

It takes Duncan some effort to answer them. His mind is in turmoil. He doesn't want Veronica to be with anyone but him, but he cannot be with her. Could he handle Veronica dating a friend?

"Troy Vandergraff. His father is an architect, he designed the marina. Lilly and I used to holiday with his family. His father moves around a lot, and I think they like to have him close as he changes boarding schools regularly."

Logan is not sure what to think about this information. He doesn't think Veronica would be attracted to a rich mummy's boy, but then he was wrong last time. He feels a bit mean, but really, no one knows for sure what Veronica did for Duncan to break up with her, but Celeste definitely had a big influence on him.

The show comes back from the ad break to show the girls preparing to go to the judge's room. They look really tired as they prepare but when they are shown entering the judging room they look different and more alert.

"The magic of television," Logan explains. "They probably start filming early but they will pretend that it is night. Believe me those girls have probably been waiting hours."

"Good Evening girls," Miranda welcomes them. "Welcome to our second judging panel. You have had a busy few days. You competed in a makeup challenge and then your photo shoot was at with Donna Bean, who is one of your judges this week." Miranda then turns around and smiles at Donna Bean. She is sitting next to Ursula who is the other judge. As Miranda introduces the judges Logan notices that Miranda gushes in her praise for them, while Pauly is just introduced as the 'other judge.'

"I wonder what he has done?" Beaver asks, being the only other guy watching to pick up on it.

Miranda continues explaining the prizes, "The winner will receive a one year contract with the modelling agency 'Ruby's Model Management', a cover and 5 page spread in the magazine 'Oui', a brand new car and $500 000." Miranda continues. The girls are shown looking excited. Logan wonders what Veronica will spend the money on.

Miranda sits down and calls for the first girl to approach the judge's table. Macy is the lucky first one to be evaluated.

"Macy was the challenge winner." Miranda says, and the judges applaud her.

Ursula smiles at her "Macy was chosen as she knew what was on trend for make up at the moment. As the winner she was able to choose 2 friends and they will appear in 'Nature's Beauty' next ad campaign.

The photos of the three girls flash up on the screen to the side of the room. Some of the girls ooh in amazement. The guys are amazed. Veronica and the other two girls look great.

"Macy, Veronica and Krystal, we love these photos. I am happy to say that the photos we took will be appearing in the latest magazines and on billboards throughout the country."

Logan groans to himself in slight panic. It was hard enough to watch her on the show. How is he going to cope seeing her face every where?

"Can you imagine Madison's reaction to seeing a billboard of Veronica?" asks Luke with an evil grin on his face.

All of the guys laugh, very easily imagining Madison chucking a tantrum.

"Where has she been anyway?" asks Duncan, wanting to desperately to change the topic from Veronica. He is unsure how he is going to react to seeing Veronica's face everywhere.

The boys shrug as they are distracted by the photo chosen as Macy's best. She is in a short tartan dress with a black tie and black heels. In the photo she is leaning coolly against a locker in a hallway.

"Woah! Her legs are great. Can you imagine them wrapped around you?" Luke comments.

Casey groans. It is obvious that he is trying to prevent them noticing another erection.

Krystal is called up next. She is wearing knee socks, but Logan doesn't feel the rush of attraction he felt when he saw Veronica wearing hers.

"Huh. She is OK but I don't think she looks like a model." Luke comments. The other guys nod.

"My bet is that she will be crying next week when they cut her hair." Casey says.

Veronica is called and she moves forward. Logan think she looks nervous.

"Veronica, I really liked your photo for 'Nature's Beauty'. You offered us a lot of options and it was hard to choose the best one." Ursula tells her.

"That is what you want to hear from a client, that you gave them a lot of options." Jake adds. Veronica smiles at him.

"Let's look at your photo with Donna Bean." Miranda says.

A picture of Veronica sitting on the bench, her back against the mirror comes up. Logan groans as a certain appendage instantly fills with blood.

"HOT." Dick says, and none of the guys in the room feel like arguing. She looks great and Logan is actually happy to hear that she impressed Donna Bean.

"Veronica, you were one of the better girl's to shoot. You were very inventive with your poses and you thought of new ones without any instructions." Donna Bean says.

All of the judge's comments are positive, except for Pauly who tells Veronica that he thinks she should have been sexier. Logan shakes his head at that comment. He is not sure he could handle her looking sexier.

"Ok, but you need to try and look more camp." Dick tells Pauly. The guys chuckle. Pauly is wearing a lot of eye liner and he does not rock the look like Johnny Depp does.

Dick continues to appraise the girls. Jackie has also gotten a good photo, but he is not sure if she should be getting so much praise. She looks like she always does with a look of disdain on her face.

"_Isn't that how she always looks?"_

Mac's photo of her sitting in front of a computer causes Dick confusion. He thinks she looks hot but the judges tell her that her face is alive but her body looks dead.

"How can a girl sitting at a computer look dead?" Dick asks. "It's not like she is bleeding or anything." He sits there pondering that as they show Sandy in a very short sexy lab coat. None of the guys really listen to her evaluation. They are too busy wishing that the girls in their lab classes looked like that.

As expected, Ali Lee's evaluation was not very good. You can barely see the outfit she was wearing. Dick was disappointed that the way she was sitting didn't even show much of her body.

The next photo makes Logan grit his teeth. There in the background of Abrianna's shot is Troy. Even in his head Logan is spitting out his name. He has never disliked someone so much who he has never met. He wonders what exactly makes him instantly dislike him. He is relived when Abrianna's photo is not shown any more.

The guys get into an argument over whether the judges are right or wrong in their evaluation of Carmen. Half of them think her photo is great. Her legs look really long and sexy so Dick, Luke and Casey think she looks hot. Logan, Duncan and Beaver think her face looks blank and boring and thus hate it.

The boys are all unanimous with their opinion of Jazmin's photo. They are not impressed. She looks just like a cheerleader at their school. In fact, the journalism project that Logan had handed in last year had included photos just like that.

Parker photo is Ok, but Logan is sure that none of them will remember her photo. It is not bad, but it is not memorable.

The boys have to laugh at the expression on Mallory's face when the judges don't rave about her photo. It looks so much like Madison's that it is scary. She is the last of the girls to be judged.

The show goes to an ad break. The boys spend the time counting out money and putting their bets on who they think will be the best photo and who will be sent home.

Dick is sure that Veronica will get best photo. He is picking Ali Lee as going home. Casey wants Macy to win but agrees with Dick that Ali Lee is going home. Luke keeps changing his mind while Beaver predictably agrees with his brother. Duncan declines to join in. Logan feels irritated at this. It is like Lilly died and Duncan forgot how to have fun. He is pondering this when Luke asks him for his bet.

Without thinking he says, "Veronica, best picture. Jazmin is going home."

The rest of the guys look surprised and Logan knows why. He was going to pretend that he thought Macy had the best photo, but in his heart he thinks Veronica did. He glares at the other guys, daring them to comment but they all avoid his eye contact and stay quiet.

The ad break finishes and the girls re-enter the judging room. Miranda is standing in front of the Judge's table. In her hand are the copies of the girl's photos. She explains that if you don't get a photo you will be going home. She then announces "Girls, the judges have deliberated and decided who will be going home. The girl who had the best photo, and will continue in this competition is..."

The camera pans to a few of the girl's faces, each showing hope and anticipation. Dick is drumming with his hands on the table in front of him.

"Veronica."

Veronica is shown looking shocked and amazed. She walks proudly up to Miranda and accepts her photo. Dick, Beaver and Logan are now the only guys left to win the pot of money. Casey groans into his hand as Macy is called second. One by one the girls are called up. Finally there are only 3 girls left. Ali Lee, Jazmin and Parker.

Parker squeals as her name is called out and she rushes out to collect her photo. Miranda calls Ali Lee and Jazmin forward.

"Two girls left in front of me but I have only got one photo. The girl I do not call is not our 'Supermodel'. Ali Lee, you are a beautiful girl, but what got you in the bottom two was the fact that you had a gorgeous outfit to sell, but we cannot see it in your photo. Jazmin, you are here as while you showed off the outfit, you do not look like a model, you look like a cheer leader. So who goes?"

The camera shot shows the two girls holding each other's hand tightly. Jazmin has tears falling down her cheeks. The camera pans back to Miranda.

"I think you need to practice making yourself look like a model for next week." Miranda says as she turns Jazmin's photo around. She squeals and runs forward to grab her photo. Ali Lee looks disappointed but not too devastated.

"Ali Lee. The judges think you have potential but you need to remember, modelling is about fashion, so you need to sell the clothes and accessories you are wearing. I suggest that you keep trying." Miranda walks forward and gives her a hug.

Ali Lee is then shown saying goodbye to her friends and then packing. Logan can't hear what she is saying to the camera because Dick and Beaver are crowing over their win.

The night ends with an impromptu pool party after Logan and Casey throw Dick in the pool to get him to shut up. Yet all 6 boys know that they will be watching 'Supermodel Search' again next week.

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A/N: Please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter. What did you like/dislike, who you want to go next, did you like who went this time, what makeovers do you think should occur or how hot you think Logan is.

Reviews tell me how much you love Logan... (Have I guilted you into reviewing yet?)


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